212° Determination
Conquering any difficulty always gives one a secret joy,
for it means pushing back a boundary-line and adding to one’s liberty.
~Henri Frederic Amiel
Erik Weihenmayer has climbed to the highest peaks on each of the seven
continents. On September 5, 2002, the day of his seventh summit, he
joined a group of less than 100 people to ever do the same. It is his
incredible inner strength that has allowed him to withstand the powerful
elements of nature: roaring winds, ice blizzards, and oxygen depletion.
Erik, the ultimate athlete, also runs marathons, is a long distance
cyclist, and paraglides. One last note about Erik: he is blind.
As the first blind man to summit Mt. Everest, Erik has shattered the
world’s perceptions of blind people. And while he says, “I don’t climb
mountains to prove blind people can climb mountains; I climb mountains
because I love it,” clearly, he has shown it’s not about what you have,
it’s what you do with what you’re given.
The human spirit can be unconquerable. We have the ability to push
ourselves beyond the seemingly rigid laws of nature. By Welcoming
Adversity and not becoming overwhelmed by physical limitations, this man
has shown us that one’s state of mind is everything.
He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not,
but rejoices for those which he has.
~Epictetus
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