Never Say Never

"Never say never", said Toni in the movie of North face. This line stays fresh in my mind every now and then. He was a tough German alpinist and just like many other alpinists, he did have a wild ambition. To be the first to conquer the Eiger Mountain in Switzerland was the first thing he wished in his entire life. He wanted to stand and wave on the summit of the North Face so badly even though hiking that particular north wall was regarded as a suicide mission in the eyes of others. Through this movie, I see perseverance in him and his partner, Andi. It was almost impossible to climb that mountain with its rock so brittle and steep with ice lining on the surface especially during the winter where a snowstorm may hit you in the face without a blink! Yet, this is nothing to them. They only saw the fluorescence of glory illuminated on the summit. Their lives were hanged on the rope they brought, they felt the strength from it and there they set their foot towards the highest peak of Eiger! It was a bad timing I have to say, to have hiked in such a bad weather. Eiger hiking had claimed the lives of all and Eiger Mountain was their land of peace in the end. Arrival of snowstorm had swallowed and drowned them alive, slowly and cruelly, stiffened them to freeze and had taken them down one by one. They were so close to home, and yet they were only an inch from the grim reaper. His spirit was the one that I salute the most, to have never given up till his last breath. Despite his failure to conquer Eiger, he had won the heart and respect of all people and did his nation proud. His never-say-never spirit did not just vanished following his death, instead, he had wrote a whole new page of historical path to next alpinists from all around the world. "We will never forget you!"

As Long As My Feet Will Carry Me - another movie that brought the theme of perseverance to the climax! As the saying goes, "our fate is in our hand", this is so not true for Clement Forell as his fate lies on his own feet instead. He and his comrades were held hostage in Siberia during the war and his entire army force had been made forced-labours under surveillance of Soviet forces in an icy mine. An implicit land of ice is a perfect prison camp that bounds you tight where you can find no place to hide and no grass to eat within a wide radius. This remind me of a scene of how joyful Clement was the moment he had seen a small tree upon his escape. In such adverse condition of the mine, he can stand no more. What Clement did in that icy mining camp was merely a prison's break. Cool, isn't it? With one cohesive thought, he gathered all his strength from every fiber in his body, just to get the hell out of that place and walked back home. Yes, walk! In the middle of nowhere, he walked for three years all the way to Germany. It's unbelievable yet it's true. From the second he managed to escape from the mine, he had got no food, no water, no map, nothing but his own foot to carry on his journey to home. It got to have taken more than courage to do what he did. He was all alone and precious lives of those who had given him a helping hand were lost. Not a total loss for me as he finally make it home at the very least.

Perseverance to live, to be with the ones you love as if the only reason you are whole is the universal solvent to obstacles. In real life, what do we do if we are situated in our darkest time? Throwing a tantrum, having a cold feet or ready to back off? These are neither the best option for us. Taking the situation in reverse, what will Toni or Clement do if they were in your shoes? They will always say, "Never say never!"