Bear Grylls - Bear Grylls Great Outdoor Adventures

Bear Grylls OBE has become known worldwide as one of the most recognized faces of survival and outdoor adventure. Trained as part of 21 SAS Regiment, Grylls went on to become one of the youngest climbers ever to reach the summit of Mount Everest. He then went on to star in seven seasons of the Discovery Channels Emmy Award-nominated Man vs. Wild TV series, which became one of the most watched shows on the planet, reaching an estimated 1.2 billion viewers. Since then he has gone on to host more extreme adventure TV shows across more global networks than anyone else in the world, including six seasons of the global hit Running Wild with Bear Grylls. His Running Wild guests have included President Obama, Will Ferrell, Ben Stiller, Roger Federer, Julia Roberts, Prime Minister Modi of India and many other stars. His autobiography, Mud Sweat and Tears, spent fifteen weeks at Number 1 on the Sunday Times bestseller list and he has written over ninety books, selling in excess of eighteen million copies worldwide. He is an Honorary Colonel to the Royal Marines Commandos, the youngest ever UK Chief Scout, and the first ever Chief Ambassador to the World Scout Organization, representing a global family of some fifty million Scouts.

Also by Bear Grylls

Born Survivor

To my good friends and family with whom I have shared so many great adventures in the past and with whom I hope to share many more in the future.

This book is for you.

Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, covered in scars, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming, Yahooo what a ride!

1 Frankie Benka

2 Buzz Pictures

3 CHAR (Committee for Herefordshire Amateur Rafters) 17

4 Corbis

5 Mick Crosthwaite

6 Discovery

7 Flexifoil (photo Richard Boudia, rider Craig Sparkes); Getty Images

8 Gloucestershire Echo

9 courtesy Bear Grylls

10 iStockphoto

11 Pete Lee

12 Kinloch

13 Breixo Mario

14 National Maritime Museum

15 Nature Picture Library

16 New Tribe

17 PA Photos

18 Photo Library 9

19 Peter Russell

20 Robbie Shone

21 Shutterstock

22 StockShot

23 .

OVER THE YEARS I have realized that living a full life isnt about how good we are at things, in fact the world is full of unfulfilled talent; but instead I have seen time and time again that life rewards the persistent.

What counts is developing a cheerfulness and quiet determination to keep going and never give up. That combination of cheerfulness and determination is one of lifes secrets to success, yet not many people realize this. We tend to believe it is all about luck and talent. But thats a convenient excuse. The truth is that if you are cheerful and determined, you will inevitably be lucky and succeed. It is a law of the universe. The more you try, the luckier you will get. Ill offer three quick examples.

Firstly, I started learning karate aged thirteen with five friends. They were all better, fitter, stronger and more flexible than me, but after a few months they all quit. I found it hard to motivate myself to get whacked in the mouth every Sunday night during two-hour-long karate classes when I was tucked up cosily at home with a packet of biscuits! But, despite that and the fact that I wasnt that brilliant, I kept going. And in that process of not giving up, I gradually became pretty handy. Years later I got a Second Dan black belt, not because I was talented, but because I was the most persistent. Oh, and my five friends couldnt now defend themselves against a lollipop.

Secondly, when I tried Selection for the SAS, after many months and gallons of sweat, I was failed at the end of one particularly long and arduous march. Part of me thought, Sack it, I never want willingly to go through that much pain and discomfort again. But I also knew that pain, cold and discomfort dont last forever, and that a sense of achievement does. So I tried again; not tentatively, but by throwing my heart and soul into it. And this time I passed. It took two years of my life, with even more blood, sweat and tears than I could ever have imagined. (Sometimes not knowing the hardships ahead is a serious blessing!) It was the hardest and yet most rewarding thing I have ever done. And yes, the pain now is a distant memory and the pride somehow still remains.

For the record: I was never the fittest, never the fastest, but I passed because I was bloody-minded. This is the one quality the SAS look for above skill, leadership or any other character trait they know the power and value of a determined man.

Finally, there was Everest. I had always heard that around one person in fifty who attempts it actually achieves the summit. But I also knew that statistics are there to be challenged! I climbed for many months on Everest alongside some of the fittest and talented mountaineers in the world and I learnt the hard way that surviving and summiting on Everest is all about being able to motivate yourself when it is truly grim. It is about smiling when it is freezing and keeping going when it is scary. It is about getting up and slogging your guts out, time and time again, day after day. The climbers who dont make it to the top are often those that have been drained of motivation. Day after day of extreme conditions, lonely hours climbing through the cold dawns and the interminable storms bring them down; they slow and eventually give up. But on Everest, as in life, the rewards go to those who can smile, show heart and just keep going. Indeed cheerfulness in adversity is a great trait to develop.

So I will start this book with a great quote:

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or when the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least fails whilst daring greatly so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat For those who have had to fight for it, life has truly a flavour the protected shall never know.

THEODORE ROOSEVELT

So go for it live boldly. Enjoy this book use it whenever you know deep down that life requires you to get up and live an adventure. And remember, whichever of these chapters you pick to do today, embark on it with good friends or family. Everything in life is more fun when shared and nothing more so than adventure.

God speed.