Why you Should Embrace Discomfort
Adventurer Ernest Shackleton and the pursuit of pain
On August 1914 Ernest Shackleton and his crew sailed from England on their ship the Endurance on a Trans-Antartic Expedition as the rest of the country was mobilizing for the First World War. A month later and less than 100 miles from their destination the Endurance was crushed in the moving mountains of Antartic ice, marooning them for more than a year.
Shackleton and his men are not known for achieving their goal, yet are regarded as some of the greatest of the “Heroes of Exploration.” By enduring the hardships and surviving countless setbacks they became an example to humanity of the importance of the mindfulness and determination developed through suffering.
The perilous journey was advertised with the promise of honor and recognition for surviving the expedition and being the first to cross the Antarctic continent.
For 9 months the men survived the Antarctic winter despite their ship sinking, sub-zero temperatures, and near continuous darkness. Using the remaining lifeboats from the Endurance the men took to the sea for 7 days to reach an outpost on…
