The Will Meter

In the spring of 2013, Jeff Smith of Lebanon, Ore., was on his 1949 Ferguson tractor attempting to pull a stump out of his wife's garden. 

Suddenly, when putting it in reverse, his muddy boot slipped off the clutch.

With the tractor chained to the stump, the full weight of the tractor fell backwards, right onto his chest. Pinned, Smith immediately called to his teenage daughters for help. 

"I was yelling, 'Oh God, save me.' There was enough pressure on me, I didn't know if anyone could hear me. I had just told them to walk the dogs, then I got on the tractor," Smith told ABCNews.com.

"I didn't know they were outside, or if anyone would hear."

Fortunately for Smith, his daughter, Haylee, 13, and her older sister Hannah, 16, were outside walking the dog, when they heard their father’s fainted screams. Within 30 seconds they were by his side, attempting to dig him out from the tractor. 

"Originally, they tried to dig a little underneath the tractor to free me up, but it wasn't working. They couldn't dig enough. I told them they need to try to lift on the front," he said.

Neither girl weighed more than 125 pounds, so lifting the 3,000-pound tractor seemed impossible. 

"The first time they lifted it, it gave me a brief moment to get a breath in. I couldn't move yet. They let it down, and it expelled that breath I got. Then they lifted it again and I was able to wiggle."

The girls using their strength and dedicated will to save their father moved the tractor enough for him to twist his body away from tractor, getting it off of his torso.

These two determined teenagers found the strength they didn’t know they had and were able to move the tractor allowing their father to breathe normally. His arm was still pinned which caused Haylee to hop on a 4-wheeler to get help from a neighbor, Hannah continued digging underneath her father to relieve pressure. 

Eventually, they freed him completely, taking him to the hospital to fix his broken wrist and other minor injuries. Smith’s daughters because of their love for him had a fully charged ‘will meter” allowing them to do things they never envisioned.

The phrase "where there's a will, there's a way" applies to this story and serves as a reminder for us each day to ask ourselves: How strong is our will meter? 

Each morning, we have a specific routine, which should include a reset of our will. Is our will meter as strong today as it was last year? Five years ago? Ten?

When our will meter is fully charged we then have the determination or desire to achieve something. A strong “will meter” emphasizes the importance of persistence and a positive attitude in overcoming obstacles. It creates the right mindset and determination, one can overcome any challenges they may face. With a strong will to achieve something, you will find a way to make it happen, regardless of the difficulties.

Measuring our will meter each morning will allow us to have the best day possible. With a strong will, we ignore the naysayers, ignore the noise, and find our way. 

Can there be a better gift? 

Jeff Smith knows that answer.

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