THE RIPPLE: The Glory and The Grind

As I spoke about in a previous vignette about how if we weren't tested that first two weeks on walk 1, it's doubtful we would've made it.  That may seem counter-intuitive to some.  

You see most people will look for any reason to fail at things and they have a whole litany of excuses to justify it.  

A few, however, search for that one way, any way, to succeed.  It may take months.  Or years to find it but they do.  

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We were trekking the Rails-Trails to DC in 2009 and I met a man who stopped us for a conversation for the 'who, when, why, and what about the walk'.  I answered as honestly as I could about our mission and our cause and his hapless almost helpless response was, 'You know, I'd love to do something like that.  But I have a family and a job and responsibilities.'

I suppressed the great growl within and merely responded, 'What makes you think that I don't?'  

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I've met many people on our travels that would've, should've, and could've embarked on a grand adventure, traversed the AT, or climbed K2, and though I'm no scholar on the matter, my best guess is that why they didn't or why they did and failed can be reduced down to one simple phrase.  

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Colin Fletcher, the Godfather of modern backpacking wrote that within two weeks of an adventure, you'd know if you were going to succeed or fail.  I read his books before the launch of Walk 1 and they were only academic to me at the time.  

But in our lonely tent along the TX highways, I learned what he meant.  There was one night I asked myself what the hell was I doing there and why.  I was beat down and in a bad way because I began to see for the first time not the finish line but the thousands of miles til then. 

A few sponsors had bailed, we'd been battered by unrelenting storms, setbacks, and other challenges, too.  

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There's a moment at which faith crosses the threshold of self doubt and uncertainty and the only thing you need to decide is whether you have the will to continue.  There is no Glory without the Grind.  

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YBD's Notes 1:  No longer will I chapterize Book 2, The Ripple.  As I plan and prepare for WALK 2, the past and present story will unfold as it's meant to, unscripted and non-linear.  

YBD's Notes 2:  One should never give up on the aspiring to inspire in all walks of life.