Favorite Friday: Bear Grylls

Bear Grylls

I hope you are all having a wonderful week. Today I'd like to feature another of my favorite adventure athletes, Bear Grylls. Perhaps you've seen him on Man vs. Wild. That's where I first learned of him and thought 'Wow! Here is a guy who takes adventure to the extreme, but knows how to survive and how to truly live--not just for himself but for others."

There are so many things about Bear that I admire:

  • He served his country in the British Special Air Service.

  • He was one of the youngest people to summit Mount Everest at age 23.

  • He pursues his passion for a living (adventurer, explorer, expedition leader)

  • He is a Christian with an amazing outlook on life. Here are a couple quotes that exemplify his outlook:

“If you risk nothing you gain nothing”

“The difference between ordinary and extra-ordinary is so often just simply that little word - extra. And for me, I had always grown up with the belief that if someone succeeds it is because they are brilliant or talented or just better than me… and the more of these words I heard the smaller I always felt! But the truth is often very different… and for me to learn that ordinary me can achieve something extra-ordinary by giving that little bit extra, when everyone else gives up, meant the world to me and I really clung to it…”

  • Last but not certainly not least, Bear is a giver. He participates with many charities and has led  record-breaking expeditions which in turn raised more than $2.5 million for children around the world.

If you haven't seen Bear in action on  Man vs.Wild, I highly recommend checking it out. My family loves watching Bear on his amazing adventures and I hope you will too. Bear is exactly the type of hero I love to bring alive in my novels.

If you love Bear Grylls, check out his wife, Shara — she’s an amazing woman!