
Alan Johnston, the BBC reporter was kidnapped last year in Gaza by a group calling itself the Army of Islam. Here, Alan recalls the experience, noting that Sir Ernest Shackleton's legacy helped him deal with what was thrown at him. In a BBC article soon after his release, he remembers how
"After his ship was crushed by the Antarctic ice nearly a century ago, he took a tiny lifeboat and set out across the great wastes of the stormy Southern Ocean. He aimed for an almost unimaginably small island far beyond his horizon, and eventually he reached it.
And in my prison, I felt that I needed some kind of mental lifeboat, to help me cross the great ocean of time that lay before me, aiming for that almost unimaginable moment far beyond my horizon when I might somehow go free."
This is a brilliant piece looking at how Alan was able to construct the necessary mental apparatus for what he called the psychological battle of his life.
Here is a link to Alan's story
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"Difficulties are just things to overcome, after all." - EHS 1909