Fun fact you didn’t know about me: I am a sucker for survival shows (except “Naked and Afraid” — my whole life could be based off that show with four boys who would honestly prefer living in a nudist colony), and lately I’ve been really into “Running Wild with Bear Grylls.”
Survivalist and adventurer Grylls teams up with celebrities and takes them on thrilling overnight adventures all over the world, testing their strength and stamina.
This week, fellow Utahn Julianne Hough joined Grylls in South Africa, where they rappelled off a cliff, boiled (and ate!) elephant dung, and hung from a helicopter.
“This has been life-changing,” Hough said.
Ever enthusiastic, Hough laughed her way across the bush land, encountering elephants, cheetahs and snakes, which Grylls tried to catch for dinner.
“I would rather starve than eat that snake,” Hough said, convincing Grylls to let it go. Dinner ended up being boiled caterpillar in elephant “diarrhea.” And although the food was not great, the conversation was — and a comment Grylls made hit me hard.
After explaining to Grylls why she went to England (to get some space from her parents' divorce and for a once-in-a-lifetime chance to hone her dance skills), Hough became emotional.
“We had really great memories, and I’m holding on to those,” she said. “There are things that probably shouldn’t have happened, but even though I’ve gone through it and I’ve cried and let it out … I’m actually OK. I actually really am OK.”
It was then Grylls said, “Never trust a man or woman who doesn’t walk with a limp. We all have limps in our lives.”
I’ve been thinking about what limps, whether emotional, spiritual, mental or social, I’ve had in my life. Getting teased for bad acne in junior high definitely brought on a limp. Being told I “wasn’t good enough” on stage while millions of people watched gave me a limp.
Leaving a singing career to be a stay-at-home mom gave me a limp. Struggling through a difficult postpartum recovery and going 1,825 days, at least, without a full night’s sleep while nursing (four kids, 15 months before weaning) not only gave me an emotional and mental limp, but physically made me stumble and fall as I’ve forced my exhausted self out of bed to nurse them throughout those never-ending nights.
But even though these nonphysical limps felt crippling, even though they hurt, they also forced me to slow down, to focus on each step, to take care of myself. Grylls was telling Hough not to be ashamed of her limps that brought pain and difficulty because, ultimately, it’s the limps that make us stronger and more understanding.
“It’s easy to think of Julianne as the classic American sweetheart: fun, bubbly, enthusiastic," he said. "But she’s had a real and often painful journey to get to where she is and I think what I respect most about her is that despite those setbacks, despite those challenges, she’s held on to her most powerful weapon, which is this gentle, authentic, infectious positivity, and it’s (that) that’s helped her shine so bright in life.”
Carmen Rasmusen Herbert is a former "American Idol" contestant who writes about entertainment and family for the Deseret News. Her email is carmen.r.herbert@gmail.com.