TEDTalk – Ben Saunders: Why Bother Leaving the House

Rating: ****

Polar explorer and inspirational speaker Ben Saunders questions that if so much information is available electronically at someone's finger tips and they can participate virtually in anything, then why should they have to go outdoors and see the world?  He feels his experiences can help inspire action, because it is a lot better to be a doer of things and not a contemplator of things!

Discussing his 10-week solo adventure in 2004 to the North Pole, he expressed his emotions. He said that the views around the frozen ice caps were unique to just himself. He captured the idea of  'doing' and 'experiencing' as where the “real meat of life is - the juice that we can suck out of our hours and days.” He makes a compelling case for not just watching and wondering. In October 2013 he wants to be the first to ski from Antarctica’s coast to the South Pole and back again. In this adventure he is looking forward to a challenging four months to continue to ponder the question "why leave the house?"

According to Saunders, “only true real inspiration and growth comes from adversity and from challenge… from stepping away from what’s comfortable and familiar, and stepping out into the unknown.” It is not hard to agree with him that we could all benefit from finding the courage and get outside the house a little more often. Have a look outdoors and see what’s there!

Saunders, Ben. Why Bother Leaving the House. TED Talks. Dec 2012

http://www.ted.com/talks/ben_saunders_why_bother_leaving_the_house.html