By Suzanne Woods Fisher
The 1910 race to be the first to reach the South
Pole is a fascinating, tragic, and profound story. Roald Amundsen, a Norwegian,
and Robert Falcon Scott, an English explorer, started at separate points on
Antarctica. The weather conditions were the same for both teams, though their
methods to reach the Pole were radically different. And so were their results.
Scott’s large team used a variety of animals for
hauling; Amundsen’s team had five men and used only dogs to haul. Scott
gathered scientific information about Antarctica, Amundsen had only one mission
on his mind: to reach the Pole first. Scott took over 2,000 photographs,
Amundsen took ten, and only after he reached the Pole. Scott took advantage of
beneficial weather to make greater daily gains, Amundsen’s team marched 15-20
miles per day and then stopped, no matter the weather conditions. Scott pushed
his team over ten hours per day when weather was good, but rested in their
tents on stormy days. Amundsen stopped his team after five hours, insisting on
rest and recuperation for his team.
Scott, one might think, would have been the first to
summit. Yet Amundsen reached the South Pole first, stuck in his flag, and set
off on a successful return journey. Two weeks later, Scott finally arrived at
the Pole, exhausted, discouraged, resources depleted. On the return trip, his
team died of starvation and exposure. To heighten the tragedy of their death,
they died within fifteen miles of a cache of food.
Mindful of oversimplifying Amundsen’s “20 Mile March”
concept, and not to dismiss Scott’s heroic efforts, there is much to learn from
these two explorers. Amundsen, in particular. To reach a goal requires
faithful, consistent discipline, but it also requires rest and recuperation. As
a writer of multiple books, I’ve adopted the 20 Mile March method and have
found it to be the very best way to write a book. The very best
way.
My writing schedule is rather rigorous: I write
three books a year. I’m up early in the morning. After coffee and Bible study,
my first goal is to reach my daily word count. No matter what. When I reach it,
I stop. Doing so allows me to step away from the computer, protects my hands
from dreaded repetitive wear, provides margin for a sick day or unexpected
circumstances, and gives my mind time to think and plot without stress. It
helps me have balance in my life, and leaves energy for my other
responsibilities. Using this method, I do finish manuscripts, slowly, steadily
and well ahead of the deadline.
There’s no easy short cut to reach a difficult goal,
but Amundsen’s South Pole expedition showed us a way to increase the odds for
success and make it to that finish line (completing a manuscript!), whole and
healthy.
#The End#
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Suzanne Woods Fisher’s interest in the Amish began
with her grandfather, W.D. Benedict, who was raised Plain in Franklin County,
Pennsylvania. Suzanne has a great admiration for the Plain people and believes
they can provide wonderful examples to the world. But she’s not implying
they’re perfect, or hold a secret to life. In both her fiction and
non-fiction books, she has an underlying theme: You don’t have to “go Amish” to
incorporate many of their principles–simplicity, living with less, appreciating
nature, forgiving others more readily, trusting in God–into your life. Those
are values that can be sought and reached by all of us.When Suzanne isn’t
writing or playing tennis or bragging to her friends about her grandbabies (so
cute!), she’s volunteering with puppies for Guide Dogs for the Blind. Suzanne
can be found on-line at: www.suzannewoodsfisher.com https://www.facebook.com/SuzanneWoodsFisherAuthor
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