So many of us live on the edge—dancing beyond our comfort zones—to feel what it means to be alive. That edge is so often the heart of our greatest adventures.
I have always seen adventure as the embodiment of the human spirit—so often peeling away layer upon layer of who we consider ourselves to be, often laden with misconceptions, labels, opinions, constraints, perceived limitations. We go to the wild to experience and realize all that truly matters. Finding lessons and wisdom in nature that reflect our greatest hopes, fears, challenges, scars, vulnerabilities, and areas requiring growth. Sometimes we are ready for those lessons—embracing them with open arms and relishing in the great epiphanies, accomplishments and realizations. Other times we are not; the scabs ripped from wounds leaving indelible marks we haven’t yet realized will create greater strength than we have ever known. Yet in that moment, it can feel dark and alone, lost in the depth of that growth and lessons learned when we were’t “ready,” the hard way. Hurdled far beyond our comfort zones, often forgetting that we willingly entered the unknown. The unpredictable. The wild.
Yet it is in recognizing the spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical dimensionalities of adventure that we begin to grasp more fully who we truly are, why we adventure, and the meaning of it all.
Some say it is to lose ourselves. But I have always felt that it was to find myself. To know myself and my potentiality at a depth far beyond the comforts of everyday living. Where our grit is often obscured by the comforts of life, the niceties of the ordinary. When we are stripped down to the essence of who we are and all we know, we acutely realize our why—what drives us when we feel like there is nothing left. When we are cold. Hungry. Exhausted. Vulnerable. Afraid. And feel like we can’t go on. Yet extraordinary is only reached when the layers are torn away. When we are raw and the rough edges are illuminated…somewhere along the journey—it may be hours, days, years, or even decades into it—we realize and embrace those rough edges as the source of our deepest strength and endurance, rather than justifying them or attempting to hide them away. For it is never in spite of the rough edges but because of them that we dig deeper and transcend perceived limitations, making the impossible possible and realizing our potentials. It is because of the rough edges that we reach higher. Do more. Achieve more than we ever thought possible. And that happens only when we embrace the rough edges. Recognizing the strength found in seeing the world differently. Coloring outside the lines. Breaking the boxes of conformity.
So often that is the thread that I have found weaves through the life fabric of the adventurers. Those who are courageous enough to explore the unknown. Transcend limitations and make the impossible possible.
That is what I knew of adventure.
Adventure done for others adds an entirely new dimension to this quest. Beyond defying impossible. Beyond the depth of friendship and trust in ourselves and others built only through adventure. Beyond realizing potential. Beyond our greatest dreams. For it is in the odyssey of alleviating the suffering and adversity faced in the involuntary dance of life and death—in this case, due to the scourge of breast cancer and MS—that we go beyond knowing ourselves through adventure, to truly knowing what it means to live. To know real gratitude. To appreciate life to its fullest. To know what really matters. To actually understand the edge.
As we embarked upon this journey, I was taken by the beauty and rapture of Rainier, fueled by passion and dedication to helping find a cure for breast cancer and MS, having been touched so deeply by the battles being fought by friends and family members in the midst of the fight for their lives. Inspired by my friend Andrew’s mission to eradicate the world of the shackles of MS and breast cancer, I realized the true power of adventure. Beyond what it has always meant to me. Beyond what I considered so much of my own identity and reason for being.
There is an Irish proverb that says, “It is in the shelter of each other that the people live.” The poignancy of that resounded throughout the very soul of this journey – and will live forever in each of us. As we climbed, it was not just for ourselves. Not to satiate curiosity. Not to add another summit to the list. Not to check off the bucket list or prove ourselves. Not to show ourselves what we’re made of or defy the odds. It was for those we love and those others love who climb towards their own summits each and every day, hoping and praying to get beyond their summit, enduring the horrifying valleys and peaks of chemo, radiation, medications, the loss of abilities, the transformation of the bodies and lives they once knew… To survive. To love their families. To contribute to their communities. To enjoy the little moments in life—not necessarily marked by great achievements or accolades… But relishing the everyday joys so often overshadowed when we think of great adventures; favorite meals, a laugh shared with friends, playing soccer with their kids, or a walk along the ocean…the everyday adventures so often lost in the devastation of disease.
We climb for them. We climb for their loved ones. We climb for those they have touched throughout their lives. We climb for the moments they have lost and dreams not yet realized. And those they still hold onto, hoping to achieve. Someday.
We may never know the depth of what has been faced in the midst of disease.
But in climbing for them, in dedicating our efforts to helping them fight—and hopefully cure—the devastation of breast cancer and MS, we realize the true power of adventure.
The edge. That fine line that defines truly living. That separates life and death.
No longer is it just a daring adventure.
It is a Climb for Hope.
And therein we find ourselves and realize our potentials. And have a hell of a good time doing it, creating friendships that last a lifetime rooted in the power of shared purpose.
For that is the true summit.
Not the top of the mountain, but the convergence of realizing the power we hold to create a world free of disease and doing it together, through life’s greatest adventure. The one that saves lives—including our own.
By Alissa Sears
About Climb for Hope (www.climbforhope.com):
Climb for Hope’s mission is to find the viable treatment for breast cancer. Climb for Hope was organized to raise and channel funds towards targeted and promising research in the fight against breast cancer.
Unfortunately it is likely that we all are touched in some way by the devastating effects of breast cancer. It may be our sister. Mother. Aunt. Friend. Us, ourselves. Or all of the above. I have seen firsthand the devastation of breast cancer on my family and closest friends. It makes me so angry that about 1 in 8 women in the US will develop invasive breast cancer in the course of her lifetime. In 2015, an estimated 231,840 new cases were diagnosed in the US alone. But unfortunately, being angry doesn’t handle it. We must take action.
A dear friend of ours lost his sister to breast cancer. Way too young. Driven to do something so no one else would have to go through what he and his family have endured, he founded Climb for Hope (www.climbforhope.com) to take action (literally!) and put an end to breast cancer. Then he founded a company called B More Organics to help further fund the solution. And he has never stopped since; going to new heights to raise funds and awareness to support research in the fight against breast cancer.
We at Christie & Co have been so inspired by Andrew and the team results-oriented programs that I joined them in August to climb Mt. Rainier to raise funds to fight breast cancer. We raised over $20,000.