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Antarctic skiers offer lesson in ways to keep positive attitude

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By Daryn Kagan, Contributing Writer 7:19 PM Friday, February 11, 2011

“Snow possible tonight.”

Ugh. The morning’s newspaper headline was enough to strike fear and dread in this heat lover’s heart. From Ohio to Georgia to Florida, it’s been one wacky and difficult winter. And there’s more on the way.

I don’t know about you, but this has turned out to be a fine whine season for me. That’s whine with an “h”, as in “Holy Frozen Nose Hairs, Batman! Where are the warmer temps?”

For someone who is so positive, there is one thing I can’t stand: Cold. I love all things hot: Hot food, hot chocolate, hot showers, and, yes, hot summers. That season never lasts long enough for me — even those five years I lived in Phoenix. Bottom line: Heat to me feels like a warm hug; cold hurts.

Obviously, this bad attitude about the bad weather is not conducive to someone who makes her living running a positive news website. Where is Suzy sunshine? Happy Happy? Snow bank half-full?

“Snap out of it, Daryn,” I admonished myself unsuccessfully as I snapped up yet another layer of clothing.

Clearly, I needed some help thawing my heart on the frigid temperatures.

One person came to mind. Ann Bancroft. No, not the late actress.

Actually, this Ann’s story is pretty remarkable. She and her fellow action junction partner, Liv Arnesen, were the first women to cross Antarctica on skis. It took them 97 days as they each pulled sleds holding about 200 pounds of supplies and gear. They loved just about every moment of it. I first met Ann and Liv during that expedition when I covered it for CNN. I’ve since had them on my website, DarynKagan.com. I figured maybe if I could see cold from Ann’s perspective I could learn to love it.

Sure enough, soon as she picked up the phone in frozen Minnesota I could hear the happy in Ann’s voice.

“I’m giddy!” she said like confessing some school-girl crush. “It’s not going to make it above zero here today!”

“Ann, you gotta help me see the light on loving the lows,” I pleaded.

Where I see pain, Ann sees possibility.

She and Liv aren’t some freaks of nature, reincarnated penguins. No, they are former school teachers who have a passion for communicating with the world’s young people.

In fact, Ann told me she and Liv are getting ready to head out again. It’s their loftiest project to date. Late next year they will host six women from six continents.

Together they will head out across the seventh continent, Antarctica, realizing that such a group and expedition will surely garner a lot of attention.

Getting to talk to kids about things like water and different cultures working together is what fuels Ann.

Oh and the fact that she needs to pack so much extra weight on her small frame that she needs to consume about 10,000 calories a day. The woman’s been known to gobble a solid stick of butter like you or I would go for a Snicker’s Bar.

Extra calories admittedly sounds pretty fun, but it’s not all happy rainbow sherbert.

Ann had a confession. “I actually do get cold like other people,” she shared. “But I’ve figured out the secret. You have to keep moving, not get all hunkered down, shoulders hunched, immobile.”

That’s when I realized that the way cold hurts me isn’t that much different than other sorts of pain that others experience. And we do do that, don’t we? Something hurts, we become immobile, hunker down. You want to stop dead in your tracks.

Ann was showing me the trick with pain or cold is to get moving. Find something that warms your heart and move toward that destination, just like Ann, Liv and the other six ladies will next year when they head toward the South Pole.

We went over the list of continents and countries that will be represented. Ann is American, Liv hails from Norway. They’ll be joined by women from China, Russia, South America, India and Africa.

“Ooh, Daryn! You should come along, too!”

Shockingly, Ann heard no response on the other end of the line.

There are limits, my friend.

For today, though, mission accomplished. She helped me get past my cranky fest with cold. Instead of counting down the days until spring, I’m now focused on counting the days until Ann, Liv and six remarkable women take on Antarctica and show kids around the world what’s possible!

Daryn Kagan is the creator and host of DarynKagan.com, an online community that features a daily Web cast of inspirational stories. The former CNN anchor and news reporter is the author of “What’s Possible! 50 True Stories of People Who Dared To Dream They Could Make a Difference.”

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