Filmed March 2014 at TED2014
Ben Saunders: To the South Pole and back — the hardest 105 days of my life
Rating: ****
Going to the South Pole and back is definitely not an easy task, even for the super humans of our generation. Ben Saunders and his buddy Tarka L’Herpiniere took on this great trek after many others had failed to accomplish this feat. The latest attempt was by a British team led by Robert Falcon Scott, code named the Terra Nova Expedition. They reached the Pole in January of 1912 thinking they were the first to get there only to find a Norwegian team had beat them to it , on their way back, Scott and his entire party died.
This Ted Talk sums up the mental and physical courage it takes to pull off a trek of this magnitude. As they carried 440 pounds of weight each on sleds, they made it to the South Pole with “ease” as you might say, but on their journey back they were running out of food and had to ration, resulting into almost dying and having to call in a supply drop. But in the end they finished the long 105 day trek from the coast of southern Antarctica, to the Pole and back.
This Ted Talk affected me quite greatly by making me realize a skiing trip in Gatineau park is 1 million times easier than a trek to the South Pole and back and the motivation and training it takes to get there. It made me think about not taking food for granted as there are many people in need of it as well as I learned that everything you do or want in life isn’t going to be easy to achieve and it takes determination and will to attain sed goals.
After listening to this Ted Talk, it has inspired me to not go for the easy things in life but work for them and feeling reward once you accomplish them. I honestly don’t think this Ted Talk will change my behavior but it will definitely stay the back of my mind for motivation and will.
References
Saunders, Ben. 'To The South Pole And Back — The Hardest 105 Days Of My Life'. Ted.com. N.p., 2015. Web. 23 Jan. 2015.
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