You can be just an ordinary chap, sufficiently motivated, to reach challenging goals.
Sir Edmund Hillary
**********************
Hello Jen
************************
Question: What is a 33 year old New Zealand beekeeper doing over 29,000 feet in the air?
Answer: He's standing on top of the tallest mountain on the Earth.
At 11:30 a.m. on May 29, 1953 Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay stepped on to the top of Mount Everest.
He wasn't Sir Edmund until he got to England and met a young woman named Elizabeth who had just been inaugurated Queen Elizabeth II. And she quickly knighted him.
Hillary had been climbing mountains since his youth and had, in fact, made several expedition climbs around Everest and other areas in the Himalayas before he ever set foot on the summit of Everest.
That brings to my mind so many other people, ordinary people, who do something extraordinary once that makes them famous. And I sometimes wonder what the rest of their lives were like.
How many other miles did the legendary messenger Pheidippides run before he was picked to bring the news of the successful battle of Marathon to the Greeks?
How many races did Roger Bannister run and win before he stepped across the finish line in less than 4 minutes?
How many hours did Neil Armstrong spend learning about space travel before he stepped on the moon?
How many wounds did Florence Nightingale patch up before she established her nursing school in England and write the book on contemporary nursing?
How much danger and brutality did Harriet Tubman endure before she escaped and began to rescue hundreds of slaves through the Underground Railroad?
How many hours did Rosa Parks spend sitting at the back of the bus before she took her rightful seat at the front?
These were ordinary people, like you and me, "sufficiently motivated" as Hillary put it, to face a challenge and win, not because they wanted to be famous, but because they believed in themselves and what they were doing.
There are many other heroes in the world who will never be famous, but whose lives are histories of problems solved, difficulties overcome and challenges met. Each of us may have an opportunity to join them. If it occurs, take it.
DB - Vagabond Journeys, and
never give up.
****************************
Showing posts with label Tenzing Norgay. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tenzing Norgay. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Take The Risk
CONTENTS:
Take The Risk
Summer Question
Weekend Puzzle
--------------------------------
You must pray that the way be long, full of adventures and experiences.
Constantine Cavafy
***********************
"How did I get into this?" Why did I ever decide to do this?" "What am I doing?" These are the remarks of a person who has taken on an adventure that looks too big for them. I've said something similar myself on occasion.
The other day I was explaining to a young person who Charles Lindbergh was. In this day of almost daily space travel it doesn't seem such a big deal to a young person, I suppose, that someone flew solo nonstop across the Atlantic Ocean. But on May 20, 1927 Lindburgh took off and 33 1/2 hours later landed in Paris. He was the first person ever to do it. I wonder when he turned East and left all sight of land if he said "How did I get into this?"
When Charles Blondin, the tight rope walker, first stepped out on the 1100 foot rope 160 feet over the abyss of Niagara Falls did he say to himself "Why did I ever decide to do this?"
On April 12, 1961 when Yuri Gagarin blasted off to become the first human in space did he ask himself "What am I doing?"
The answer to those questions is probably "yes" or some variation. Few of us ever have the opportunity or the madness to have such experiences, but the adventurous spirit of the human being is evident in many lesser dramatic ways.
People who accomplish amazing things are initially called foolish risk takers. Pioneers who tame the wilderness and grow crops that feed people, Others who have found a route of commerce across endless dessert, Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay climbed Mount Everest way back in 1953 to prove it could be done. Now climbing Everest is an industry.
Fortunately one doesn't have to risk one's life to be a hero. Other things can be risked: safety, security, reputation, money, health, self respect, just to name a few. It's a calculation. It's an adventure. It's an experience. Is it worth the risk? Everything and anything is worth the risk for a more fulfilling and interesting life.
I rue the hours I spent doing nothing but watching inane television, arguing with people over unimportant things, wandering through the streets with no purpose or design.
The long road of one's life is worth living with adventure, purpose and, above all, enthusiasm. The prayer of the truly alive should be "Please let me not be bored."
------------------------------------
Never give up.
DB - The Vagabond
************************
SUMMER QUESTION
It's a long, hot, sticky summer, so here's a hot, sticky question for you.
Same sex marriage. Should it be legal or not? If so, why? If not, why not?
dbdacoba@aol.com
7 answers so far.
You have until the last day of summer, but don't dally.
I eagerly await your answer.
DB
************************
WEEKEND PUZZLE
(It's easy.)
What do the following names have in common?
For extra points, identify them.
********************
Beethoven
Champion
C3PO
Ed
Hal
Lassie
Louie
Ollie
Scout
Toto
******************
dbdacoba@aol.com
Take The Risk
Summer Question
Weekend Puzzle
--------------------------------
You must pray that the way be long, full of adventures and experiences.
Constantine Cavafy
***********************
"How did I get into this?" Why did I ever decide to do this?" "What am I doing?" These are the remarks of a person who has taken on an adventure that looks too big for them. I've said something similar myself on occasion.
The other day I was explaining to a young person who Charles Lindbergh was. In this day of almost daily space travel it doesn't seem such a big deal to a young person, I suppose, that someone flew solo nonstop across the Atlantic Ocean. But on May 20, 1927 Lindburgh took off and 33 1/2 hours later landed in Paris. He was the first person ever to do it. I wonder when he turned East and left all sight of land if he said "How did I get into this?"
When Charles Blondin, the tight rope walker, first stepped out on the 1100 foot rope 160 feet over the abyss of Niagara Falls did he say to himself "Why did I ever decide to do this?"
On April 12, 1961 when Yuri Gagarin blasted off to become the first human in space did he ask himself "What am I doing?"
The answer to those questions is probably "yes" or some variation. Few of us ever have the opportunity or the madness to have such experiences, but the adventurous spirit of the human being is evident in many lesser dramatic ways.
People who accomplish amazing things are initially called foolish risk takers. Pioneers who tame the wilderness and grow crops that feed people, Others who have found a route of commerce across endless dessert, Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay climbed Mount Everest way back in 1953 to prove it could be done. Now climbing Everest is an industry.
Fortunately one doesn't have to risk one's life to be a hero. Other things can be risked: safety, security, reputation, money, health, self respect, just to name a few. It's a calculation. It's an adventure. It's an experience. Is it worth the risk? Everything and anything is worth the risk for a more fulfilling and interesting life.
I rue the hours I spent doing nothing but watching inane television, arguing with people over unimportant things, wandering through the streets with no purpose or design.
The long road of one's life is worth living with adventure, purpose and, above all, enthusiasm. The prayer of the truly alive should be "Please let me not be bored."
------------------------------------
Never give up.
DB - The Vagabond
************************
SUMMER QUESTION
It's a long, hot, sticky summer, so here's a hot, sticky question for you.
Same sex marriage. Should it be legal or not? If so, why? If not, why not?
dbdacoba@aol.com
7 answers so far.
You have until the last day of summer, but don't dally.
I eagerly await your answer.
DB
************************
WEEKEND PUZZLE
(It's easy.)
What do the following names have in common?
For extra points, identify them.
********************
Beethoven
Champion
C3PO
Ed
Hal
Lassie
Louie
Ollie
Scout
Toto
******************
dbdacoba@aol.com
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