I am currently reading this book, “Philosophy for Polar Explorers: What they don’t teach you in school” written by Erling Kagge, the first person to surmount the ‘3 poles’ – North pole, South pole and Mt Everest. One of the lines that struck me most – “One of the most important things is to get up in the morning” . On the ice, or in the mountains, it’s always tempting to remain in one’s sleeping bag when the temperature dips to minus 20 degrees, or lower. I remember on our Cho Oyu expedition last year, I woke up in my tent to find my sleeping bag covered with frost and tiny snow particles. I spent some time trying to unzip my sleeping bag, after which the effort left me so breathless that it really wouldn’t hurt to fall back asleep. Coupled with the low temperatures and wind gusting outside the tent, it does seem to defy logic to purposely pluck yourself out from your warm cocoon. However, Erling Kagge maintains that getting up can be painful, but what’s even worse is lying there dreading doing so. I think this applies so much locally, when one has to wake up at 5am to work, go for a 15km run, go to school, or mop the house (my mum used to do that) . So, one of the most important things in the world is to get up in the morning.