Occasionally there are thoughts that pass my mind that are not always sarcastic. These moments are, admittedly, few and far between. On a date somewhat recently I was asked who I most emulate. I said, in arrogant bravado, Shackleton. (As I recall I actually messed up his name, but let's not split hairs) "My unrelenting persistence in the face of certain total failure." was the reason I gave. In reality, this blog shows that I am perhaps the antithesis of the great Arctic explorer. But again, it was a date. It's all about lying.
But what started as a cavalier joke turned into a personal exploration of Ernest Shackleton and his ill fated voyage. I've spent the better part of a month reading and watching films about how he and his men were trapped in the ice and then brought out to safety again.
There is not doubt that Shackleton undertook his voyage seeking for gain and riches in the world. It was well known that he was best at exploring and little else. He felt, at times, overshadowed by the fortune of his wife's family and wanted to make a name for himself. He had tried on two other occasions to reach the South Pole only to be thwarted by bad weather. It was his goal to be the first to reach the south pole and on his second trip he missed it by only 97 miles. Not long after a Norwegian (who's name I forget) reached the pole and accomplished what Shackleton had tried for so long to do.
But no normal person on the earth remembers Flonder Flim's (I'm tapping into my Norwegian heritage) name now. On the other hand, Shackleton is a legend for returning all his men alive after being stopped at nearly every turn. Their ship sank, they nearly starved, they survived the coldest temperatures on earth, they sailed the most treacherous seas in the world in shanty boats. They lived on an island that no man had ever stepped foot on before. They crossed an "impassable" mountain range. Hells yes I remember Shackleton. The man who never quit. The man who gave up his food and sleeping bag to keep his brother alive. Someone who defines what a man should be.
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| He was even featured on 'Badass of the Week' online. |
In his final feat of traveling across South Georgia Island he had to scale mountain ranges with nothing more than a small axe and boots with screwed fitted in the soles. 26 miles that no man had ever crossed because of the rugged and rough terrain. At one point, when on the verge of freezing to death, Shackleton tells his men that they must slide down the mountain in the dark to avoid the freezing weather. To me, this would not have been a calculated risk but certain death. Endless crevasses dotted the landscape not to mention cliffs and icy walls. But the two other men simply sat down with Shackleton and slid down the mountain side. After surviving they even laughed and said what fun it had been. Few men on earth could inspire others like that.
So what was it that drove Shackleton? Where did his strength come from? Years later he said, "I know that during that long and racking march of thirty-six hours over the unnamed mountains and glaciers, it seemed to me often that we were four, not three."
The truth is that Shackleton is one of the most revered and respected explorers of all time, and he accomplished nothing of what he thought he set out to do. So often we think that our personal success depends on achieving our self prescribed goals. But in the end, God knows what is best for us. I've felt in my own life many times where I was not just one in the fight for my life, but two. Fortitudine Vincimus-- by endurance we conquer.
