I was recently gifted with the book “Touching the Top of the World” by and about Erik Weihenmayer. Erik was born with retinoscheses, a degenerative eye disorder, that left him blind by the age of thirteen. His story highlights how he pushed past limits imposed by a seeing world to become an accomplished adventurer … reaching the summit of Mount Everest and the tallest peak on each continent.
Erik’s story touched me and inspired me to try my hand at indoor rock climbing as I consider other adventures such as ice climbing, rock climbing, and mountain climbing. And here is where the true lessons of Erik’s achievements took hold along with a relevance that I truly did not expect.
As I looked up at the 30 foot high 624 square foot climbing wall I was reminded of my tree climbing days back in elementary school. (My mother still talks of the time that she had to climb a tree while pregnant with my younger sister to rescue me from a failed attempt at reaching the top). Of course that was 35 plus years ago.
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