Thought for the Day - Power of the Human Spirit

I received this from my cousin Sharon

When we change the way we see the world, we change the world.”

That was the message at the heart of Warren MacDonald’s inspirational presentation at the Esplanade last night.

There are few who understand the powers of perception and positive attitude more than MacDonald. In 1997, MacDonald was climbing Mount Bowen on Australia’s Hinchinbrook Island when a massive slab of rock sheared off the side of the mountain, pinning him beneath it. For two days, he lay trapped under that rock while his climbing partner — a man he had only known for a day — hiked out to get help.

“I knew I was staring down the barrel of my ultimate test,” recalled MacDonald. While he had always enjoyed pushing the limits of his comfort zone through travel and adventure, MacDonald had no idea just how far he would have to push his limits in the months ahead.

While he was eventually rescued off the mountain, MacDonald had to have both his legs amputated above the knee to save his life. He recounted to the Esplanade audience the gut-wrenching feeling he had as the doctor told him the news.

“I cried myself to sleep and woke up the next day to a whole new world,” MacDonald said.

But even though MacDonald’s life changed in that moment, he refused to accept defeat. He began an intensive course of rehabilitation, and before long he was swimming again. He graduated from swimming to hiking in his wheelchair and 10 months after his accident, he climbed Australia’s Cradle Mountain. In 2003, six years after his accident, MacDonald became the first double amputee to climb Africa’s tallest peak, Mount Kilimanjaro.

As an image of himself standing on a mountain peak flashed before the audience, MacDonald said he is still amazed by what humans are capable of when they set their mind to it.

“It absolutely blows me away that someone could go through something like that (his accident), and 10 months later be in a position like that,” he said.

He added if you wait until you have 100 per cent confidence in your ability to do something, you’ll never do it.

“I go by the 70 per cent rule — by the time you’re 70 per cent certain of something, start moving, because it’s only when you start moving that the other 30 per cent falls into place,” he said.

From Med Hat news
http://www.mdhnews.com

Power of the Human Spirit - #2

See previous post below on Mother and Daughter team who scaled Everest and now the oldest man. The power of the human spirit in action...

KATMANDU, Nepal — A 76-year-old Nepalese man reached the summit of Mount Everest on Sunday to become the oldest person to climb the world's highest mountain, mountaineering officials said.
Min Bahadur Sherchan reached the 29,035-foot summit early in the morning with his climbing guides.

Sherchan is just 25 days from his 77th birthday.
He beat the record set last year by Japanese climber Katsusuke Yanagisawa, who scaled the peak at age 71. Sherchan was in good health and was descending from the summit. The former soldier has climbed smaller mountains before his Everest feat and has been an active sportsman.