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Sam Deltour is one of 72 mushers who entered the annual Iditarod Sled Dog race this year. This young man has some practical advice from the trail that can benefit us all when we face challenges in life.
In my "other life" as a dog musher, I've become a fan of long-distance sled races, particularly the Yukon Quest and the Iditarod. The challenges on these 1,000-mile races are incredible including: temperatures that can hover around -45, lack of snow, too much snow, open water, bone-numbing howling head winds (for days), losing the trail, injuries and lack of sleep. Meanwhile, in the midst of all of this, these mushers are providing exceptional dog care to keep their canine athletes healthy and happy (the dogs sleep a lot more than the mushers on these journeys for example, veterinary assessment is part of every checkpoint and tired or injured dogs are dropped from teams and cared for by volunteers, and the dogs are still eager to go even at the finish line).
The 1,000-mile journey with all the inherent challenges makes for a very interesting metaphor for life itself. Our own daily journeys in our lives are full of challenges that we need to face successfully.
How do we cope? What can we learn from the mushers about coping with constant daily challenges and the "ups and downs" of life?
At the moment I'm writing this, Sam Deltour of Sint-Kruis, Belgium is in the 55th position in the Iditarod Sled Dog race. He's one of the back-of-the-pack crew who don't have their eyes on a top-ten finish, but race amongst themselves in this incredible journey across Alaska.
Sam is a particularly interesting person. At 24, he's into his 5th year of medical studies. At least one fellow musher is grateful to have him on the trail, as he rescued an unconscious colleague who had been knocked from his sled in a particularly challenging gorge along the trail.
In terms of coping with the challenges of the trail and the tremendous mental strain, Sam made some interesting comments in a recent interview for the "Iditarod Insider" (a video crew who provides the rest of us who are unable to be on the trail to follow this incredible race).
In an interview yesterday from the trail, when Sam was asked how mushers can cope with the challenges of the trail, he said,
"Just mush is our motto at the kennel." Adding, "That's really the way you gotta to cope with everything . . . The way to deal with problems is to just mush, you know, just don't think about too much, don't worry about it, just stand on your runners and keep mushing. And, that's about all you can do sometimes."
I know we all need to take this to heart more often when we face challenges that make us want to give up. Interestingly, a musher really has to work hard at keeping a positive attitude, as the musher's own negative attitude can bring down the spirit of the entire dog team. Isn't that so true of everyday life and the lives of those around us? When we wallow in our own self doubt and worry as opposed to getting on with the task ahead of us, we drag others down with us and diminish our experience of life.
There are many lessons from the trail that I have learned. I know I'll share others, but I thought this was a good place to start.
"Just mush . . . just stand on your runners and keep mushing" today. Oh yes, and care for "your dogs" (that is, the others around you). Keep them healthy, happy and working as a team.
