Getting inspired by the adventurous antartic days of the Endurance, when Shackleton was one face of the hero, and Frank Wild was the other one.
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“The weather was good, but no advance could be made.
The ice had closed around the ship during the night,
and no water could be seen in any direction from the deck.”
Ernest Shackleton is one of my heroes, someone who had qualities I wish I had.
He went out to explore the Antarctic, an ambitious expedition, and it wasn't his first time. When the forces of nature blocked his dream to come true, he shifted his focus, kept his crew safe and left in search of help, facing all sorts of challenges.
He also left 22 men in the cold, dark Winter of Elephant Island, where another hero, Frank Wild, worked restlessly to support the struggle of other 21 men he was in charge of.
"Frank Wild was left in charge of the marooned men by Shackleton and saved them from starvation and despair. The morale of the men in the face of extreme exposure to the elements, the ingenuity of their devices for survival and their diet, conversation and entertainments all reveal heroic qualities of Shackletonian endurance" (J. R. Piggott).
The ship was named Endurance, and this word remained when the crew left the boat: Shackleton, Wild and the other members of the crew were all heroes, those who left and those who stayed, waiting, enduring.”
In the times of emergency that we are living inside our homes, it's helpful to look at people who inspire us to find our own way to manage and, why not, to make the most of these days.
What are the qualties that helped these heroes survive? Because they ALL survived, which is incredible. While Shackleton's experience can appear more similar to those of doctors and nurses in the COVID19 pandemic, Wild's experience is more similar to the experience of quarantine we are all involved in, so we will consider this side of being a hero.
Endurance, an adventure from the wellbeing perspective.
According to neuroscientist Richard Davidson, wellbeing is a skill and has 4 components:
AWARENESS - CONNECTION - INSIGHT - PURPOSE
Awareness.
It is made of attention, self-awareness and focus.
Think about how Frank Wild had to keep his focus while being aware of his needs and the needs of others. He was fully aware of the possibility that captivity brings growing tension, frustrations and increasing chances of having fights between his men.
Wild also knew that humans can lose motivation when everything around them suddenly changes, at this is a even higher risk: we can put our lives on hold, missing the fact that life is happening right now. This can have an impact on our mood, which is in turn affected by inactivity. It is our responsibility to find a way to live now in a deeply respectful mindset towards our life. And we are not alone.
Wild knew it, also because he knew himself, his emotions, his strengths and vulnerabilities. Distraction would have meant a possible and extremely dangerous loss of the delicate balance he was maintaining inside and outside of himself, through the effort of each and every memeber of the crew.
Attention brings care to the things we do, and empowers our healthy behaviour.
Connection.
Made of kindness, empathy and maintaining a positive outlook.
Having a positive outlook doesn’t mean you never feel negative emotions, such as sadness or anger, says Dr. Barbara L. Fredrickson. “All emotions—whether positive or negative—are adaptive in the right circumstances. The key seems to be finding a balance between the two,” she says. “Positive emotions expand our awareness and open us up to new ideas, so we can grow and add to our toolkit for survival, but people need negative emotions to move through difficult situations and respond to them appropriately in the short term. Negative emotions can get us into trouble, though, if they’re based on too much rumination about the past or excessive worry about the future, and they’re not really related to what’s happening in the here and now".
Sailors stuck on a freezing island were kept awake and proactive by nurturing their spirit through acts of collaboration, mutual help and care, and some cheerful moments.
Insight.
Made of self-knowledge, resilience and a healthy sense of self.
People who take good care of their emotions, experts say, have fewer negative emotions and are able to bounce back from difficulties faster. This quality is called resilience.
Knowing ourselves is important: what do we consider being our character strengths? What did we learn from our own experience, satisfactions, mistakes and failures? Today I spoke with a student who was able to connect with her previous experiences of succesfully ‘waiting’, and this insight of hers transformed the tone of her voice together with her perception of ownership: she felt she can manage even without clarity ahead.
In a situation where we share a condition of uncertainty and limitations to the life we were used to, we can focus on our strengths to support motivation and action. We need to make an effort, each effort you make now, will pay off immediately and stay, tomorrow.
In times in which our dialogue with ourselves can be loud, we owe ourselves a healthy one.
Explore the mindfulness section of this website to learn one powerful way to take care of your emotions, thoughtsm, sensations and relationships.
Purpose.
It's made of clear direction and everyday tasks aligned with purpose
Wild knew his strengths were fading, and he also knew he had to keep them alive. All of his efforts contributed to save the lives of 20 people. One strength he worked on was reminding the crew of their purpose: why should they act with commitment, why should they have hope and keep going (while standing still)?
The purpose of each marooned men was directed towards concrete actions, made for the community: Wild made organization the best friend of all, helping others finding their own strengths through the practical means of teaming up and splitting tasks. It worked for them. It will work for you as well.
Even in presence of uncertainty, we need to understand this is no longer time to wait, but time to act and live, differently. Your actions will make a difference for your path towards an independent and successful life 'after', where success will be measured by your willingness to do what is needed, your flexibility in front of challenges, and your openness to change.
“Need to put footstep of courage into stirrup of patience.”
― Ernest Shackleton, Shackleton: His Antarctic Writings
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