In 1988, real estate agent Paul Aladdin Alarab, 44, was performing a social protest by hanging from a rope tied to the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Calif., when he accidentally fell off. He survived. When the war against Iraq began, Alarab again headed to the bridge with his rope to protest. As police officers scrambled to get him off the bridge, he let go of the rope.
This time he didn't survive. Police are calling the result a suicide, but friends say Alarab wasn't suicidal because he just got custody of his young daughters, and probably thought he could survive the fall again. In 1988 Alarab said he "was praying for God to give me another chance" as he fell. (San Francisco Chronicle)
Character isn't defined by the chances you take, but by how you make use of the chances you get.