When I woke up a man in a green beret with a big feather poking out of it was leaning over me. , I thought.I blinked again but he didn’t go away.Then this immaculate, clipped British accent addressed...
There has been one further element to success, and that is its underlying message. I believe it is actually the biggest factor.If you think about it, at heart, there is such a strong link between sur...
There had always been this part of me that had never really believed that I could make it.Ever since that hospital bed and my broken back, a little part of me, deep down, had thought it was all sheer...
The thing about a ‘comfort zone’ is that it sounds, well, just too comfortable – and when you are too comfortable you lose your edge. That’s why I call it a comfort pit, because a pit is somewhere you...
The next few weeks were a real struggle.Mental turmoil was a new emotion for me, and not a fun one.I felt I had let myself down, and that I had wasted four months of my life to hard, cold misery, and...
The journey up to battle camp started badly.If you can’t even load a bloody truck with all your kit properly, then you’ve got no bloody chance of passing what’s ahead of you, I can assure you of that!...
Standing, balanced precariously on the narrow top of a drainpipe, you had to give a good leap up to grab hold of the narrow ledge, and then swing your whole body up and over.It took some guts, and a c...
Since I did Selection all those years ago, not much has really changed.The MOD (Ministry of Defence) website still states that 21 SAS soldiers need the following character traits: Physically and menta...
Psalm 121 says:Good person to have on side, I always figure.Now, some of you will say, hey, I don’t need this Christian stuff. And I hear you. But it is easy to be cynical when all is going your way....
Our next test weekend was in a particularly hellish area of the Welsh mountains--remote, godforsaken, and full of even more boggy, ankle-twisting moon grass.The area became known affectionately by the...
Later that week, I was bicycling down a pavement in the City of London when I passed a company called DLE, which stands for Davis Langdon & Everest., I thought, as I skidded to a halt.I took a deep br...
It was a feeling that I could be a little different from everyone else of my age, and that, if pushed, I could battle against the forces of nature and prevail. Adventure felt the most natural thing in...
I soon found my feet, and was much less homesick than I was at prep school. Thank God. I learned that with plenty of free time on our hands, and being encouraged to fill the time with interests, I cou...
Finally, I could see the four-ton trucks below me, parked in a small turnout next to a dam at the foot of the mountains.I raced down to the dam and clocked in.I knew I was slow, as I could see all the...
Aim to live a wild, generous, full, exciting life—blessing those around you and seeing the good in all.
Sometimes things just don’t ‘feel’ right - even if all the outward signs seem to be pointing us towards a certain course of action. When that happens, listen to that voice. It is God-given and it is o...
So accept that fact. But don’t despair, because the good news is that help is nearer at hand than you might imagine.You see, if I am going to enter a difficult jungle or uncharted mountain range, I al...
Dwelling on mistakes, endlessly replaying scenes in your head, only makes them grow.So the next time you find yourself lying in bed at night, cursing your stupidity or foolishness, it’s worth remindin...
All you have to do is give it an opportunity to be unleashed.So pick big targets and surprise yourself with how capable you really are deep down.Remember David and Goliath? Rather than David, the youn...
You just have to hang on in there through those dark hours - don’t give up, let the mountain sustain you and empower you, and you will experience the mountain within you.