Today is the anniversary of the first successful ascent to the summit of Mount Everest which occured on May29, 1953 by two gentlemen, Hillary and Tenzing. Apparently three days before, two other climbers, Bourdillon and Evans, came within 100 meters of reaching the summit, and turned back due to exhaustion. Seriously?! I can not imagine being so close to reaching such a phenomenal goal and having to turn back, only to have it reached days later by someone else; or to feel that level of physical and mental exhaustion that would allow you to justify turning back. Every night I go to bed with the intent of waking up more determined than I was the day before; because every day is one whole day closer to doing all the things I want to do..but that's only true if I make the most of every single day. So I now have a new standard of exhaustion before I will justify giving up...am I experiencing respiratory failure, throwing up uncontrollably, hallucinating, and have bodily fluids frozen to my face and legs? If not, then there's no excuse.
What summits are you striving to reach?
