Undaunted Courage

‎"Although my body has been broken,

my spirit never will be.

I am unbreakable!"

- Grant Korgan, South Pole 2012

Courage is what makes someone capable of facing extreme danger and difficulty without retreating.  It implies not only having bravery and a dauntless spirit but the ability to endure in times of adversity.

If you were to ask me to list the people who epitomize courage to me, Oskar Shindler, Paul Rusesabagina, Karen Silkwood, Wesley Autry, Captain Sully, Ann Frank and the 911 First Responders would come immediately to mind. Last week, I added Grant Korgan to the list.

I have the honor of knowing Grant.  He was a bigger-than-life participant at my son and daughter-in-law’s wedding; a member of my daughter-in-law’s extended family.  They attended his wedding that same year in October, 2009  Five months later, on March 5, 2010, Grant was involved in a horrific snowmobile crash, which left him paralyzed from the waist down.

On January 7, 2012, Grant Korgan took the first of 250,000 strokes that would push his “Sit-Ski” across Antarctica to the South Pole. His arrival 10 days later marked the 100 Anniversary of Robert Falcon Scott's Terra Nova expedition and added his own name to the archives of history as the first adaptive skier to ever accomplish this feat. (It should be noted that Grant didn’t actually “pole” his sit-ski the whole way. In fact, he left the adaptive apparatus to ski the last 100 yards on conventional skis!)

 courtesy of www.southpolepush.com

Those who know Grant well, though awed and ecstatic, are not the least bit surprised by this accomplishment and know that there will be more successes ahead as “Korg” stretches toward his ultimate goal of 120% recovery. There is no doubt he’ll get there. He has the heart, the love and support of family and friends, and the spirit it takes to do great and meaningful things. 

Grant’s story reminds me, as I hope it will you, that pushing through the fears and adversity that fall across our paths is the only way to the new horizons of hope and freedom that await us all.  He has given me a new perspective from which to face the great, and even the small, challenges in my life.  Now, when I struggle with motivation, inspiration, and trying to find a way to muster up the courage to just DO IT, I think of Grant and find myself kicking off the chains of doubt and pushing on!

If you’d like to learn more about Grant’s adventure to the South Pole and the great work being done at High Fives Rehabilitation Center, please go to: www.southpolepush.com and www.highfivesfoundation.org.  A documentary film about the expedition will be released later this year.

If you missed our daily Facebook posts this week, please enjoy them now:

“A man discovers himself when he

measures himself against an obstacle.”

~ Antoine de Saint-Exupery

“Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the little

voice at the end of the day that says I'll try again tomorrow.” 

~Mary Anne Radmacher

“True courage is not the brutal force of vulgar heroes,

 but the firm resolve of virtue and reason.” 

~Alfred North Whitehead

“It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare,

it is because we do not dare that they are difficult.”
~Seneca

“Only those who will risk going too far can

 possibly find out how far one can go. “  
~T. S. Eliot

“Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark, in the hopeless swamps of the approximate, the not-quite, the not-yet, the not-at-all.  Do not let the hero in your soul perish, in lonely frustration for the life you deserved, but have never been able to reach. Check your road and the nature of your battle.

The world you desired can be won.

It exists, it is real, it is possible, it is yours.”     
~Ayn Rand

”Promise me you’ll always remember: You’re braver than you believe,

and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.”

~Christopher Robin to Pooh