Bear Grylls Quote

Many people find it hard to understand what it is about a mountain that draws men and women to risk their lives on her freezing, icy faces--all for a chance at that single, solitary moment on the top. It can be hard to explain. But I also relate to the quote that says: If you have to ask, you will never understand.I just felt that maybe this was it: my first real, and possibly only, chance to follow that dream of one day standing on the summit of Mount Everest.Deep down, I knew that I should take it.Neil agreed to my joining his Everest team on the basis of how I’d perform on an expedition that October to the Himalayas. As I got off the phone from speaking to Neil, I had a sinking feeling that I had just made a commitment that was going to change my life forever--either for the better or for the worse.But I had wanted a fresh start--this was it, and I felt alive.A few days later I announced the news to my family. My parents--and especially my sister, Lara--called me selfish, unkind, and then stupid.Their eventual acceptance of the idea came with the condition that if I died then my mother would divorce my father, as he had been the man who had planted the stupid idea in my head in the first place, all those years earlier.Dad just smiled.Time eventually won through, even with my sister, and all their initial resistance then turned into a determination to help me--predominantly motivated by the goal of trying to keep me alive.As for me, all I had to ensure was that I kept my promise to be okay.As it happened, four people tragically died on Everest while we were there: four talented, strong climbers.It wasn’t within my capability to make these promises to my family.My father knew that.