Taking The Window of Opportunity: National Parks Adventure Begins!
15th century monastery Nepal 2018 - photo by Didrick Johnck
In 2020, seven billion plus people on the planet at the same time and were challenged as individuals, communities and nations by the pandemic. Like all of you, my personal dreams and goals for this year have been delayed, postponed or cancelled all together.
I had two ambitious adventure projects that were cancelled this year. The first was to push a person in a wheelchair for 10 days on the Camino de Santiago in Spain. The second adventure was to bike across America from Washington D.C. to San Francisco for the nonprofit I co-founded called No Barriers USA. The bike ride was to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disability Act (ADA).
I have learned, is we ALL have been through a lot. As people, in our human nature, we do not like to be confined, told what to do, retreat and comply with a restriction of our freedoms. In addition, there has been tremendous personal loss in jobs, graduations, wedding plans and more.
All of this, naturally leads to our own personal doubts, fear, confusion, anger, depression and a sense of defeat in the world we live in and our own place in it.
The beauty of being human is we are ALL wired to aspire and transcend the situations and environments we are in. It is in reaching for the light in the darkness and moving towards it we can attain new heights, skills and experiences in our human journey. The beauty of life is in the struggle to make a life.
Today, in commemoration of the 30th anniversary and The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), I am launching a new adventure to the national parks. I will be blogging and sharing updates with you as to what it means to be facing physical challenges and surviving the pandemic that encircles all of us around the globe.
The hope is that you see that there is light on the horizon for all of us and realize that the mission of No Barriers USA can reignite the fire in all of us to embrace our destinies and see that “What’s Within You Is Stronger Than What’s In Your Way.”