When I was a kid,
my whole family was obsessed
with the 1911 race to the South Pole.
(Yes, my people are nerds.)
Here’s the basic story:
Amundsen was a Norwegian guy.
Scott was British.
These two rivals were determined
to be the first man to set
foot on the South Pole.
(You will not be surprised to learn
that recent research shows that
indigenous New Zealanders probably made
it there 1000 years before Europeans.
But back to Amundsen and Scott.)
SPOILER ALERT
Amundsen reached the South Pole first.
Scott arrived over a month later;
he and his team later died in the
punishing Antarctic conditions.
Why did Amundsen succeed while
Scott perished?
Scott had some bad luck, but he
also made some ineffective choices.
Amundsen traveled on skis
and took 52 sled dogs.
Scott took dogs too, but only 13--
he also used ponies, tractors, and
motorized sledges.
The sledges broke down, the
ponies perished. He didn’t have
enough dogs. He and his team made
most of the journey on foot,
because many of them didn’t know
how to ski.
I’ve always been baffled by Scott’s choice to bring ponies. Even at age 8, it seemed obvious to me that a dog is way more equipped than a horse to survive in Antarctica. Like—dogs have FUR!
So while there are a lot of reasons why
Amundsen made it and Scott didn’t,
to me the most significant is that:
Scott used the wrong animals for the terrain.
I find myself thinking about this
when I am resisting my feelings.
One of my favorite ways to resist
my emotions is to INTELLECTUALIZE THEM.
I’ll feel an upsurge of sadness,
and instead of just letting myself
have an emotional EXPERIENCE,
I’ll start thinking. Stuff like:
“Where did this come from?
Is this related to that other thing?
Why am I like this?
Why am I feeling this way?
Who can I blame?
How can I solve this?”
Then I remember:
Trying to “solve” emotions with THINKING
is like taking ponies to Antarctica.
It’s using the wrong animal,
the wrong part of yourself, for the terrain.
Don’t get me wrong, I love my
Thinking Part! She is great for
making plans, strategizing,
problem solving, learning, analyzing,
writing an essay.
But my FEELING PART— the one
who cries, chortles, sparks with rage,
throbs with resentment, startles—her literal job
is to have experiences. And
experiences are what makes a life!.
(Pic is my dog, who I have promised
to never take to Antarctica.)
Are you like me? Do you tend to overuse your Thinking Part? I’m a Life Coach, and if you’re ready to stop overthinking and create a life that FEELS good, let’s talk! My DMs are open or you can book a call with me here.