The Bright Side

‘It was a sickening sensation to feel the decks breaking up under one’s feet,’ recounted Ernest Shackleton...After almost nine months stuck fast in the Antarctic ice, his expedition's flagship, the Endurance, sunk, and Shackleton and his men had to make do with the equipment and provisions they could cram into its three lifeboats...They had no way of communicating with the rest of the world and essentially no hope that anyone would come to rescue them. And yet, ten months later, Shackleton led every one of his men to safety. 

 

How did Shackleton and his crew pull through in the face of such incredible odds?...Everything that Shackleton achieved, he achieved with and because of those he had taken with him…What did he look for?...‘the quality I look for most is optimism: especially optimism in the face of reverses and apparent defeat. Optimism is true moral courage.’

 

What did Shackleton mean by optimism?...At every stage of the troubled Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, Shackleton reminded his men that as long as they were alive, they had choices to make and options to explore...Not many of us will have our mettle tested as Shackleton and his team did. But we all have our reckonings with life and death, sooner or later. And the value of a positive attitude is also evident when it comes to achieving positive outcomes in far more mundane circumstances: a date, a job interview, a sports match. If we are downcast about some situation or other, the chances are that someone will tell us to look on the bright side; and the chances are that we will feel better if we do. Optimism, far from leading us to passively await good times ahead, can help us to actively explore our limits – and move beyond them.