It seems like not a day goes by that someone doesn't ask me WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS? Each time I think about the "why" and find it hard to put my finger on one reason. Perhaps its the tough year I've just been through with losing my best friend, my mom, being in a pretty big car accident, watching my little brother experience a heart attack and all the problems that go with that or hearing of my older brothers cancer scare. Maybe its just that MID LIFE CRISIS I keep hearing about?
Maybe its best summed up by Sir George Leigh Mallory who actually summited Mt. Everest...
"So, if you cannot understand that there is something in man which responds to the challenge of this mountain and goes out to meet it, that the struggle is the struggle of life itself upward and forever upward, then you won't see why we go. What we get from this adventure is just sheer joy. And joy is, after all, the end of life. We do not live to eat and make money. We eat and make money to be able to enjoy life. That is what life means and what life is for".
Yes, its quite the adventure, probably the biggest I've ever taken on! I've built an airplane (and crashed it), experienced the thrill of scuba diving, surfing, hiking the Sierra's, lived through a pretty horrific car crash, but this just may be what Sir George Leigh Mallory stated, its the JOY of doing it!
NOTE: Thought you might be interested in the route I will be on as I head to the Mt. Everest Base Camp, see the picture of the map!
Geesh, to think all I am planning is to take Mark and Richard to Yosemite this summer!! I thought I was being very adventurous! (a mother and her 16 yr old son, plus Richard who is 6) camping, hiking and of course fishing!! I am really afraid of the hiking because I don't want to get lost! I am a great camper, and an excellent fisher(wo)man! Anyway I am very excited for you! Be safe and have fun!
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