I love serving others especially those truly in need. On Friday, the eQ team spent the day doing just that. We volunteered at Our Daily Bread, Maryland’s hot meal program where they serve more than a quarter million meals to the most vulnerable citizens of Baltimore City each year.
Last week we helped serve a hot lunch to more than 700 of these citizens. This is without a doubt a humbling experience and one that makes you think how lucky we all are. Although it wasn’t scheduled to coincide with the long Memorial Day weekend, it fit together perfectly with what Memorial Day is really about: remembering those that have served our country.
Oddly enough, I woke up Monday morning and spent four hours finishing a book called Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand (she also wrote Seabiscuit). If you haven’t read the book, I highly recommend it.
While I normally don’t spend this much time reading in one day, I couldn’t put it down. Unbroken is the true story of Louis Zamperini, an Olympic track star who fought in WWII. His airplane wrecked leaving him and two others on the sea traveling 2000 miles for 47 days only to end up in the hands of the Japanese as a POW; where he endured more than a human should in several lifetimes combined. The story is beautifully written, but describes more suffering than any book I’ve read. I couldn’t put it down, partly because of Hillenbrand’s storytelling, but mostly because it was Memorial Day and I wanted to truly understand what those that have fought for our country and our freedom suffered.
In essence, it’s a sad book, but Hillenbrand does a remarkable job at painting a crystal clear picture of WWII and the prisoner camps that many Americans found themselves in. While it’s a story of sadness, it’s also one of resilience, persistence and acceptance.
One of Zamperini’s quotes in particular stood out to me, “Pain is that last quarter of a mile. You feel it, but when you’re through racing, your whole body just feels elated. So the pain is worth it.” Interestingly and sadly enough, the Japanese made Zamperini, malnourished and ill, race others while a POW. Worse still, he was beaten regardless if he won or lost the race. He spoke about the pain while doing it, and remembered that because he was light/thin framed, he felt elated as he ran which made it well worth the pain. It also took him back to the years when he was free and healthy prior to the war. Zamperini was able to fight through the pain and suffering knowing when it was all finished, it would be worth it.
This book, in conjunction with eQ’s giveback day on Friday and Memorial Day have helped me to remember that life’s journey isn’t always easy – in fact it is almost never easy, but if you can push through the hard times with 110% effort the rewards you’ll reap will indeed be worth it.
Misti Aaronson is the Vice President of Operations at entreQuest who leads both internal initiatives for the company and external engagements with clients to ensure that every experience delivered by eQ is nothing short of remarkable.
