Grin and Bear It

Here’s the deal, I’m a pretty indecisive person. For the past week or two, I’ve left my second period study hall so I could go to Mr. Clements’ room during his Composition class and work on my article about the top ten bizarre soft drinks in Japan. This article, though, has nothing to with soft drinks or Japan. I spent my time in Mr. Clements’ room online looking up weird facts and going to the Discovery Channel website to find out if I "could be Bear Grylls for a day." It was after I won both the Kenya and Iceland adventures that I realized yes, I could be Bear for a day and yes, I would rather write an article about the star of my favorite show, "Man vs. Wild."

One Thursday however, Mr. Clements was reading writing prompts to his class and he suggested the following, "If you could spend one day with any person, living or dead, who would it be?" Even though that prompt wasn’t directed towards me and I knew that I wouldn’t have to write it, I wrinkled my nose and shuddered the thought of having to do so. I’ve never really been a prompt kind of person and that one was flat out cheesy! Or was it?

If I had the opportunity to spend the day with any person, there is not a shred of doubt in my mind that I would spend it with Bear Grylls. Bear provides this superhuman help towards all stranded tourists. Thanks to Grylls, I now know how to survive the unexpected and how to stay alive when I’m hopelessly lost in the Moab Desert or in the Costa Rican rain forests or even the Everglades. Thanks to Grylls, I can get out of frightening predicaments such as quicksand and freezing arctic waters. But lately, rumors surrounding the credibility of Bear’s show had me doubting whether or not he can get himself out of those tough situations.

A former member of the British Special Forces, Grylls proclaims he can "show you the skills you need to survive." Until recently, I never felt any state of disbelief as I would watch him, mouth ajar, eat creepy crawlies like maggots, scorpions, and snakes. Something inside me would tingle and be fascinated every time I would see him construct a raft out of balsa wood or build a makeshift shelter out of pine tree branches. Then I read a report on the BBC News website that claimed that Bear Grylls was a phony. How dare they? It was almost as though my world had shattered before me. Yes, that's a bit of an exaggeration. It semi-shattered. Generally any die-hard fan would boycott his or her new ex-favorite show when it was being called a sham, but not me. I still cancel all previously made plans with close friends in order to watch it. I still schedule my day around all potential viewings of the show. I still make all the residents of my household vacate the area so that I may watch Bear in a peaceful, serene location filled only with sound of attractive British accents and crackling fires. I know it may be a bit over the top, but I don’t really care. Sure, maybe Bear has stayed in motel or two, but he’s still eating beetle larvae and spruce needles on camera and that’s okay with me.

I’ve decided that I’m okay if Bear doesn’t rough every night in the wild. He’s still trudging through smelly swamp goo, eating things that give normal people goosebumps, and exploring ancient, vampire bat-infested viper pits. I think it’s because no matter what, a hero is still a hero. It’s even more heroic to know that my hero has flaws, things that make him imperfect, things that put him more on my level. I think that it’s for those reasons that I will continue to aspire to someday be just like Bear. Well, maybe my aspiration is just to continue aspiring about being Bear; either way, I’m satisfied.