Turning Back

It’s not too late

Sometimes, it takes as much courage to turn back as to continue onwards.

In 1912, Robert Falcon Scott led the first British expeditionary team to the South Pole only to find that Roald Amundsen and his Norwegian team had beaten him to the goal by a mere 5 weeks.

And in order to reach the Pole, Scott and his team used the food they knew they would need for a safe return to their ship. They all died of starvation and exhaustion just 11 miles from a food depot they knew lay ahead.

Ernest Shackleton, another British explorer, faced a similar decision three years before Scott’s fateful march. Realizing he could lead the first team to successfully reach the South Pole, he turned back 112 miles short of their goal.

Shackleton knew he and his team would die if they continued, so after getting closer than any human in history, after enduring so much to reach that point, he turned them around and led them back to safety.

Which man showed the most leadership?

Which man, the most courage?

You and I don’t risk our lives, and the lives of our employees, for our dreams. Thank God for that.

Still, in our own personal journey, loving others and being loved, perhaps we should reflect metaphorically.

It is a personal judgment. Who can say which is right and which is wrong?

Who can say it doesn’t take as much courage to turn back as to continue on?