#359

I'm afraid there's no denying I have a man-crush on Bear Grylls. What a fuckin' great guy! A British SAS commando turned adventurer, a reserved but resolute Christian, a family man, and – on camera at least – a kind, sincere, playful, respectful, humble, cool, authentic dude. Love his show Running Wild where he seems to initiate meaningful dialogue with celebrities after disarming them via some harrowing outdoor activity like ice climbing, canyon hopping, hanging from helicopters over mountains. Basic stuff. Yeah, I'm a huge fan of all I've seen and read from the guy. So, naturally, I'll quote his autobiography here in hopes that M 'n' m will read it someday, and hold Bear and his way in high esteem (but not admire him more than they admire me, of course...) and endeavor to encounter and engender and appreciate this wisdom and, you know, just live AWESOME lives!

"Every time I fell off (of my horse) in the wet sand and was on the verge of bursting into tears, Dad would applaud me and say that I was slowly becoming a horseman. In other words, you can't become a decent horseman until you fall off and get up again a good number of times. There's life in a nutshell."

"My young, boyish face felt as if it were literally about to freeze solid. I couldn't feel the end of my nose at all, which for someone with a big one like myself was a scary new phenomenon. I started to cry; that usually worked to show Dad that things were serious and needed his attention. But he just told me, 'Cover up better and push through it. We are on a proper expedition now, and this is not time to whinge (a British term for whine). The discomfort will pass.' Moments like that encouraged me to believe that I could persevere – especially, and more importantly, when I felt cold and rotten."

"I have always been, above all, a trier. I haven't always succeeded, and I haven't always had the most talent, but I have always given of myself with great enthusiasm – and that counts for a lot. In fact, my dad had always told me that if I could be the most enthusiastic person I knew then I would do well. I never forgot that. And he was right. I mean, who doesn't like to work with enthusiastic folk?"

"Mum was always so generous to Lara and me growing up, and it helped me develop a very healthy attitude to money. You could never accuse my mum of being tight: she was free, fun, mad, and endlessly giving everything away.... and that was a great spirit to grow up around. Mum's generosity ensured that as adults we never became too attached to, or attracted by money. I learned from her that before you can get, you have to give.... I love the quote she once gave me: 'When supply seems to have dried up, look around for something to give away.' It is a law of the universe: to get good things you must first give away good things. (And of course this applies to love and friendship, as well.)"

"I never had anything to fear, though, from Mum and Dad when it came to school reports... (they) just loved me, regardless, and that has helped me so much in my life: to have the confidence to just be myself and to go for things. I have never minded risking failure, because I was never punished for failing."

"To me, my Christian faith is all about being held, comforted, forgiven, strengthened, and loved – yet somehow that message gets lost on most of us, and we tend only to remember the religious nutters.... This is no one's fault, it is just life. Our job is to stay open and gentle.... The irony is that I never meet anyone who doesn't want to be loved or held or forgiven. Yet I meet a lot of folk who hate religion. And I so sympathize. But so did Jesus. In fact, he didn't just sympathize, he went much further. It seems more like this Jesus came to destroy religion and to bring life.... to make us free, to bring us life in all its fullness."

"Like most of the fears we all carry into later life, they are so often based on what could or might happen, rather than what actually did."

"Eton was only intolerant of two things: laziness and a lack of enthusiasm.... (Eton) also taught me to understand that life is what you make of it. And with that there comes responsibility. No one will do it all for you. That is left to each of us: to go out, to grab life, and to make it our own." 

"I learned during this trip to (a poverty-stricken area of Romania) that I had no right ever to grumble at my own circumstances and that I should always try to be grateful and hospitable wherever I can. Above all, I will always remember the kindness and warmth I was shown from those who had so little. I have witnessed so much of this generosity and kindness from people all over the world, and it never fails to bring me up short."

"Charlie helped me, at a very formative age, to understand that there are no prizes for taking either yourself or life too seriously, and that life should be lived freely.... through it all, our friendship has grown stronger as we have both been rolled and rocked by the boat of life"

"But I had a dream, and that always makes people dangerous. Dreams, though, are cheap, and the real task comes when you start putting in place the steps needed to make those dreams a reality."

"Little could have prepared me for what I saw on the squalid streets of Calcutta.... I felt overwhelmed, inadequate, powerless, and ashamed – all at once. Watty and I finally found the small hospital and nunnery that was Mother Teresa's mission.... We returned there every day we were in Calcutta, we gave the remaining rupees we had to her collection box, and I wrote Mother Teresa a folded, hand-written note to say how her work had moved me. I just wanted to thank her and encourage her. I never expected a reply. Knock me down, if two months later I didn't get a personal letter from her saying thank you. I still have it to this day. Believe me when I say that all we gave were a few pounds in total. Her response is called grace, and it amazed me. Her being, and her whole way of life (even though we never even met her), was a living, breathing example of God's presence on this earth, and it changed how I saw both myself and the world around me very powerfully. I realized that I had been given privileges beyond those any person could ever hope for, and that we, in turn, have a duty of care toward the world and her people. I wasn't yet sure what this meant for me. I just know that I left the squalor, dirt, and suffering of Calcutta with a sense that, in Mother Teresa's life, we had experienced a brush with God that was both beautiful and very real."