We like to play ice-breaker games - more on ice-breakers in a moment. These are games we play around the table to spark conversation. They usually start with, "If money was no object, where are the top 5 places that you'd like to visit?" or "If you could have any super-power, what would it be?" or "If you got a new vehicle, what color paint would you choose? or "What was your favorite family vacation that we've been on?" The list goes on and on, but you get the point. We go around the table and share our answers. It spurs further conversation and/or changes in our original answers.
The other night before bed, Tricia remarked, "I like my name, but if I was to choose another name, I think I'd like the name Olivia. It's such a pretty name." She then asked, "If you could choose another name for yourself, what would it be?" Good question. I took my brain out of neutral and put it into low gear. I began to think first of nicknames. Have you ever had a nickname? When I worked for the helicopter company, I had an office with my name outside the door. It's the one you see below:
A coworker there of whom I'm still in contact with gave me the nickname "Cornbread" because of my 'country' ways, I guess. He turned the nameplate over and wrote my nickname on my name plate and slid it back on the wall. I still have it:
But I digress. The question wasn't about a nickname. Tricia asked me what name I would like if not Kyle. I thought and came up with an answer. I told her, "I think I'd like to be named, Wolfgang." "Wolfgang?" she responded, "Really?" "Yes, really," I told her. "There are many famous Wolfgangs," I said. She asked, "Who?" I said "Well, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart for starters. And then there's Wolfgang Puck, the famous chef. You can't leave out Wolfgang Van Halen, the son of Eddie Van Halen and Valerie Bertinelli." "But you would have been teased at school," she continued. "No, they'd shorten it and call me "Wolf" and wolves are tough," I answered.
She thought my answer was weird, but that's okay. I guess I'd be a lone wolf or maybe I'd join a wolfpack. Back to ice breakers. I just finished reading the following audiobook, and I highly recommend it.
Endurance. It is a true story and it's named after the ship that Ernest Shackleton and his crew were on in their 1914 expedition to cross Antarctica. The Endurance became caught in ice and the pressure eventually destroyed and sunk the Endurance. That started a harrowing adventure in which the men lived on the ice. In order to survive, they had to eat their dogs. In order to live, they also killed and ate penguins and seals and sea leopards, which weigh over 1,100 pounds. Their adventure lasted almost 2 years. Most had given them up for lost but all 28 men survived! They braved conditions so cold that you can't imagine it. At some point, Shackleton and a few others left some of the men and sailed on a small lifeboat over 800 miles as it was their only chance for survival. Well, they made it. They organized a rescue mission to go get the men they had left on Elephant Island. They succeeded!
This story was an amazing story about leadership, perseverance, and a positive, never give up attitude. As the book ended, I was left with the thought that: "Those were men back then. They just don't make 'em like that anymore." As you read it, you just can't fathom what they went through. You're left wondering what you would have done. How would you pass the time? I guess playing "ice-breaker" games while your ship was stuck in the ice would have helped build camaraderie while you waited. At one point as they were starving, they went around the table and planned a menu for which time at which they'd be rescued, naming their favorite foods on all courses.
