 | WHY ?
Atlas Mountains — Eco-Challenge, Morocco. I remember well the small cactus shrubs that covered the Atlas mountains area. Each time I fell from exhaustion and dehydration (caused by an intestinal virus), I landed directly on one of these, its strong barbs piercing body parts and I not caring.
The first fall, after I got sick, left me face-to-face with my vomit and a large cactus, juxtaposed to remind me of my vulnerability, and the strength, and sometimes piercing harshness, of this land and this sport. And to remind me that of five successes in competing in the Eco-Challenge, this one would fail.
 | I lay huddled near a rock in the cold sunrise... broken.... |
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After being extremely sick for 48 hours and trying to continue on through the mountains, after searching all of my options, and the team's options given my condition, and after digging for some semblance of energy so that I could continue to move forward, I lay huddled near a rock in the cold sunrise... broken.
For the first time in an adventure race I watched my teammates hike away to finish the race without me (I would be helicoptered to base camp to be treated and filled with many bags of IV fluid). And at that moment, watching the sun rise peacefully above the village below me, I pondered the question that is most frequently asked of me at speaking engagements: "Why would any bright, intelligent, rational woman want to participate in a sport that can bring her down to the lowest lows of her existence?" Why would I volunteer for a situation that forced me to look at the darker side of self? In a world increasingly designed to promote comfort, why would I choose this?
Filthy, blistered, dehydrated, and bruised, I pondered the "WHY" question. Then I looked around at the moving location, the rich valley below, and looked back at all my team had successfully accomplished, the mistakes I had made, and all of the lessons I had learned over the last few days to get to that place. And I never wavered.
| Many people in our society want to be somewhere else rather than where they are... |
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Conviction of my desires and dreams reigned strongly to ward off those devil voices that can settle self doubt in our brains.
Many people in our society want to be somewhere else rather than where they are in their lives. They remain in the "can nots" and the "should nots" and the "what ifs" of everyday life until one day they wake up and realize that they've lived in that "did not" world for 40 years.
In the meantime...
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SEE ALSO: The A-Files | Start to Finish Index
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