Remembering a climbing icon

Thursday, January 10, 2008

By now, you’ve probably heard the sad news...Sir Edmund Hillary, the first person to climb Mt. Everest, has passed away. I have nothing to add to the news coverage and remembrances but do want to remember important thing about the man.

Like the rest of us, Hillary wasn’t born to greatness; he was just your average beekeeper. What set him apart was his simple life philosophy: “Adventuring can be for the ordinary person with ordinary qualities.” Next time I stand in awe of someone who has climbed a big peak or been on what seems like an incredible journey, I will remember that all of us have the same capacity within ourselves. The only thing that separates us is motivation. As Hillary told a group of Nepalese school children, “If you really want to do something, you will work hard for it.”


Comments:

Well said!

Posted by Digital Quixote on January 12, 2008 at 06:33 PM | #

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