Do Remarkable Things

Well, I realize that this is my first post in, shall we say, a rather long while. Hopefully, you guys will forgive the long recess once you hear some of my musings on my recent trip to Mt. Everest. I hope these ravings make some sense, maybe some of it is from brain cell loss due to hypoxia, I don't know. We'll see how it goes.

I have thought a lot about what to post about the trip, stories to include and so on. Rather than post a straight travelogue though, I thought I would include some of the thoughts and impressions that I have. Don't worry, there'll be pictures too!!

Now, a couple of weeks after returning from the trip, perhaps it is still too soon to really say how the trip has affected me, but I can tell you that I somehow feel "different" in a way that I can't really put my finger on. Do I feel a new perspective on how lucky we are in the West and how little we appreciate it? Yes. Do I feel different about how some things in life are important but most of the stuff we worry about is meaningless? Kind of. Do I feel more relaxed and less of a slave to self imposed schedules and deadlines and instead just do the job the best I can? I think so. Perhaps all this is a part of it, I'm not sure - but I do feel that there is more to it than that. It's interesting that my two friends that went on the trip also have similar feelings - that something is "different" but they can't really say what.

One thing that I know that I have gained is the realization of how important it is to "do remarkable things" - that life needs to be more than worrying about paying bills, drudging yourself off to work everyday, coming home, slumping on the couch, and waiting to do it all over again tomorrow.

Climbing to Everest Base Camp was remarkable, there is no doubt, and it is an experience that I will always remember. Not everyone can make it to Everest Base Camp, I realize, but the challenge is to find those things which one can do which are just a little bit different - to remind you that you are alive and not just existing.

I am reminded of a quote by Mark Twain:

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.

Or from Jack London:

I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.

If you have a dream, pursue it. Don't wait. Do the things that need doing, but also do the things that don't. My Mom taught me a little poem when I was a child - I don't know who wrote it originally, but I have always carried its sentiment with me:

"Be good, and let those who will, be clever.
Do noble deeds, not dream them all day long,
And let life, love and that vast forever
Be one grand, sweet song."

I hope this post hasn't been too tedious - it's been difficult to describe feelings which are indescribable. Coming up, I'll write about my impressions of Nepal in general, and about the Himalayas in particular, including both the people and the scenery. With pictures!!