Anatomy of an Adventure (in Everything) January 10, 2012
Posted by Marc Troeger in Uncategorized.add a comment
(post from www.50Adventures.com)
Anatomy of an Adventure (in Everything)
I met Matt Walker last year when I attended the Cochise Stronghold Rock Climbing Camp, hosted by his adventure company, Inner Passage. Matts patience as a teacher and leader made the three days of instruction and climbing in the desert south of Tuscon, Arizona, an amazing experience. I walked away from that camp learning far more about myself and what I can accomplish. It was an incredible adventure. (click HERE to continue reading)
Youth… by Samuel Ullman May 30, 2011
Posted by Marc Troeger in Uncategorized.add a comment
Enough said.
-marc
Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind; it is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips and supple knees; it is a matter of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions; it is the freshness of the deep springs of life.
Youth means a temperamental predominance of courage over timidity of the appetite, for adventure over the love of ease. This often exists in a man of sixty more than a boy of twenty. Nobody grows old merely by a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals.
Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. Worry, fear, self-distrust bows the heart and turns the spirit back to dust.
Whether sixty or sixteen, there is in every human being’s heart the lure of wonder, the unfailing child-like appetite of what’s next, and the joy of the game of living. In the center of your heart and my heart there is a wireless station; so long as it receives messages of beauty, hope, cheer, courage and power from men and from the infinite, so long are you young.
When the aerials are down, and your spirit is covered with snows of cynicism and the ice of pessimism, then you are grown old, even at twenty, but as long as your aerials are up, to catch the waves of optimism, there is hope you may die young at eighty.
by Samuel Ullman
And the Adventure Continues… October 9, 2010
Posted by Marc Troeger in aging, humor, journey, life, Uncategorized.Tags: aging, growing old, journey, life, staying young
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I posted on my blog, a few years ago, something I wrote titled “Growing Old… NOT!” I’m reposting it below as a personal tribute to my 48th birthday, but more importantly, to all those who could care less about how old they are or what condition they are in and continue to do so many amazing things everyday. I look at my parents, who are in their 70s and continue to travel the world, always looking for their next adventure. To Holly, who struggles with Freidriech’s Ataxia yet continues to live her life to the fullest (see her postings at: Hollys Hope). To my friend Bruce, who has struggled over the years with cancer and is even now awaiting another diagnosis; regardless of his condition, he has and continues to have such an amazing impact on so many peoples lives. And to the many people you know and admire who continue to amaze you with how they persevere and what what they accomplish.
Living has nothing to do with age, nor your health, nor the obstacles you face. Living is how you move on with what you have and make the best of it… one adventure at a time.
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[The following was Originally posted at www.mountainblogs.com on December 2, 2008 by Marc Troeger]
I turned forty a few years ago… but it didn’t bother me at the time. A few weeks ago, I innocently mentioned several aches and a few pains to my wife after doing an early morning run. Her response: “That’s what happens when you get older.
My response back her through clenched teeth: “I-am-not-going-to-get-older!” And that’s the truth.
I refuse to feel my age. I refuse to recognize a little of the spread that’s taking place in my mid-section. I refuse to acknowledge the grays appearing on my top section. And I refuse to give up on the youth that I have always felt within me; the silliness, that care-free attitude toward life… that quest for adventure every waking hour. But, then… how do I ignore the inevitable?
I came up against that question once again, very recently while reading a book by Joe Simpson. Joe is best known for the incredible account of trial and tragedy in the mountains in his book Touching the Void. In his latest book, The Beckoning of Silence, he writes on many topics surrounding his mountaineering adventures, the loss of close friends and an introspective look at the risks he has taken in his life and what that means to him today. In particular, he relies on his insight and wisdom of his age (he is the same age as me!) and writes about youth and old age. In challenging his own advance down the trek of time, he offers this quote by Samuel Ullman :
Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind. It is not a matter of ripe cheeks, red lips and supple knees; it is a temper of the Will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions. It is a freshness of the deep springs of life. Youth means a tempermental predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over the love of ease. This often exists in a man of fifty more than in a boy of twenty. Nobody grows old by merely living a number of years. People grow old only by deserting their ideals. Years wrinkle the skin; but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. Worry, doubt, self-distrust, fear and despair – these are the long, long years that bow the heart and turn the greening spirit back to dust. Whether sixty or sixteen, there is in every human being’s heart the lure of wonder, the sweet amazement at the stars and at starlike things and thoughts, the undaunted challenge of events, the unfailing childlike appetite for what next and the joy of the game of living. You are as young as your faith, as old as your doubt, as young as your self-confidence, as old as your fear, as young as your hope, as old as your despair.
Yeah… me… that’s me… I-am-not-going-to-get-old!
