Kyrie, This Book Is For You
Here’s a book recommendation for you.
Kyrie Irving,
Things were going well for you. You and the Dallas Mavericks competed in the NBA Finals last season and you guys had a good chance of making it back this year.
But then things just randomly went south.
Your team traded away your running mate, Luka Doncic, for Anthony Davis. But then Anthony Davis got injured in his first game with you guys. And then you got hurt.
You were having a good season, too. You were an All-Star!
And it must suck for you right now; it must be difficult.
This is why you should read A History of Canada in Ten Maps by Adam Shoalts.
Aside from it being a fantastic resource for learning about Canada, the reason you should read A History of Canada in Ten Maps is to learn about the hardships these explorers, voyageurs and fur traders went through and how they persevered to accomplish their goals (which, many times, was to add to their map).
This book shares the experiences of multiple expedition parties, starting with the Viking’s exploration of Canada and ending with Lieutenant John Franklins’ expedition into the Arctic Frontier.
In it, Shoalts details how the explorers battled the wilderness and how they struggled to stay alive in the winter.
For instance, he tells the story of an English sailor, Samuel Hearne.
Hearne (and his crew) explored and lived in the Arctic for nearly a year, which nearly killed him because of the extreme cold and scarce food sources. But immediately after returning home, he was ready to go on another expedition.
“It speaks volumes about Hearne’s temperament and grit that after enduring nearly a year’s worth of living in the open on the Arctic tundra and suffering severe deprivations -including long periods of fasting that made subsequent eating extremely painful- he departed on a new journey after only twelve days recuperating back at the fort” (Pg. 162).
This is the mindset that you need to have as you recuperate from your injury.
Additionally, the book also discusses First Nation culture and traditions (something I know you’re interested in) and their relationship with the Europeans (which wasn’t always bad).
To recap, you should read A History of Canada in Ten Maps because it’ll tell you about the struggles and suffering these explorers went through and how they overcame them, which will show you what you need to do to overcome your injury and come back more rejuvenated, more crossover-y, more Uncle Drew-y… more Kai-ry (sorry, it was just right there).
(This article includes Amazon affiliate links.)