He knew it was a risk and he had been warned. He’d gone to Gaza to do his professional duty, so that the world might know what was happening in the Palestinian territory. But the situation deteriorated while he was there and although he knew western journalists were targets, he decided to stay on.
But nothing prepared Alan Johnston, the BBC journalist, for that fateful morning in March 2007. Stopped at gunpoint and a bag placed over his head, he was thrust into the back of a car. It would be nearly four months before he would see freedom again.
A Pressing Problem
His captors took him to a tiny, filthy cell where he quickly realised what a desperate situation he was in. Without even his contact lenses to see and with no other distractions he was left alone with his thoughts. Pacing up and down hour after hour he began to wonder if he was going to live or die.
Very soon though, a more pressing problem arose. He was getting sick and losing weight from the food and water. Concerned about the prospect of simply wasting away, he decided to take matters into his own hands. He negotiated with his captors to get healthier food, which thankfully they agreed to. After his health had stabilised, he then requested a radio to give him the window to the world he had missed.
Boosted by these successes but still very aware of how the odds of staying alive were stacked against him, he did an admirable thing. He decided to control the only thing within his direct control – his state of mind. He persuaded himself that since negative thoughts would only weaken him, he would adopt a positive mental perspective.
“I felt that I needed some kind of mental lifeboat, to help me across the great ocean of time that lay before me, aiming for that almost unimaginable moment far beyond my horizon when I might somehow go free”1Alan Johnston
Dignity
His success at remaining positive encouraged him and while it helped maintain his sanity during those dark days of captivity, Alan was also very aware of how much his parents and sister must be struggling at home in Scotland. So, he decided to do something quite remarkable.
He decided that if must meet his end in front of a camera, he would ease their burden as much as possible. Accepting that the only thing he could control about his execution was how he would conduct himself, he chose to mentally rehearse the day of his execution and how he would go to his death with dignity.
Opinion
I can’t help reading that article without feeling a sense of awe at Alan Johnston’s choices and actions. He didn’t focus on the injustice of what had happened. He didn’t just think about how awful his captors were to him. He just focussed on changing the things which lay in his control.
Boosted by having had some influence over his diet, he decided to change the one thing over which his captors had no control – his state of mind and the mental rehearsal of his imagined day of execution.
Relevance For Us
Alan Johnston’s ordeal gives us all a fresh perspective over our own times of trouble. In events such as the current Corona crisis, how much influence do we have over our own thoughts? When our lives are spiralling out of control, the few things which we can control include our thoughts, attitudes and actions. Alan Johnston knew that instinctively and his response to the events of his kidnapping is a model for us all.
Dai says, “In the post How I Put Myself On The Road To Better Health With This One Simple Question, I suggested you create a list of all the things within your control. If you haven’t already got “My Thoughts” written on that list, then do so now.”
Next Week
Whether he knew it or not, Alan Johnston was acting in his Circle of Influence. How you can use the Circle of Influence in a very practical way will be in the next article on Remarkable Resilience. Subscribe to the Wacky Dai email to make sure you don’t miss it. what Steven Covey, in his seminal book, “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” calls,
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