Comments about ‘Ralston says accident was 'a blessing in a way'’

I just finished reading the book. It is quite an amazing story. But I was struck that Aron is a modern day hippie. Abandoning responsibility, marriage, family, work; to hit out backpacking across Europe (what the hippies did), or in his case, the mountains and canyons of the west.

But I ask, what is the point of all this? What is so glorious about "doing your own thing?" How about doing somethign for someone else? How about building something, creating something, or loving someone besides yourself?

Aron has led an interesting, challenging life. The next challenge will be how he turns the adversity of losing his accident into building a life he can live without all the adventures. There will always be challenges in life, everyone faces them, he just needs to "grow up" and be an adult. Blessing on he and his family as he makes that transition from being self-serving, to a grown up responsible adult, making adult decisions and commitments.

Ralston has a right to live the life he wants and can, even though it's not something I would choose. His act of self-preservation sends shudders down my spine, but I'm impressed that he chose to do that instead of simply die as a victim of his own mistakes. I'd be more critical if he had a wife and children who would suffer the most as a result of his personal goal-achieving (and I don't diminish the pain his other family members must have suffered), but I give him credit for being his own person and not playing the victim card.