Running across the Antartic!

I was driving to the office last week and heard an interview with a London man who is skiing to the south pole. And then I heard of a man who is running across the Antarctic, not walking or dog sledding but running. With snowshoes on of course! I’m struggling to get to the point of being able to walk from Kitchener to Windsor, in a month that I’m hoping will offer some decent weather, not -40 degrees. To me that idea sounds like an outdoor ed class from grade 8 back in Saskatchewan (where I grew up) that just doesn’t end. I’m not sure if you have ever snow shoed, that’s one skill but then to run in them requires a whole different set of muscles that most of us never knew existed.

Regardless, I found these interviews and goals incredibly inspiring. Huge human feats (at least by my standard) that demonstrate just how much can be accomplished by dedication, commitment, training and passion. Accomplishments that someone like me (an average person, struggling to get the pounds off and to find the energy and time to work out) would normally think are simply impossible. But obviously they are not! Nor is walking across the South District, nor is planting a community center in Guatemala that will impact hundreds, nor is providing work, employment and skill development opportunities to young men and women who otherwise would never have the opportunity, or is it impossible to think that 31 dollars a month in sponsorship can change lives in incredible ways. Yes, it can be done, it isn’t impossible and it is being done!

I’m not sure what the whole picture is for these arctic adventures, what their reason is or what there motivation is? ( I know some of its raising awareness and funds for cancer research) But what ever it is, it’s enough for them to engage in months of training, change their habits, give up some favorite desserts, commit their hard earned money and a host of other sacrifices. In considering this, the question that is left behind is simply this

What’s my motivation and what am I willing to do about it?

I hope this blog is at least a small window into the journey I’m taking to answer that for myself.