Brian talks about Life Lessons and Kilimanjaro

Why I want to climb Kilimanjaro

This is one of the hardest questions for me to answer.  Ask me about how to create world peace or how to solve world hunger and I can go on for hours about where to start and what each of us can do, but ask me about why I chose Kilimanjaro for a summer vacation and you’ll find me deep in thought.  It isn’t because I don’t know; it is because the question goes to the heart of who I am and who I want to be.  Those things aren’t easily expressed in words.  Feelings and essence are more easily expressed in art and I find myself more attuned to logic.  Thankfully the two aren’t mutually exclusive.  I’ll try my hand at art:

Live life like it is precious
Live life like it is finite
Live life like your life matters
Live life
Live.

It is important to me to live life with no regrets.  If it is true that you get one shot at life, then you simply must take your best shot at it.  If you are too comfortable in your surroundings, take a bold step in to the unknown.  Each time I have done so in the past it has changed my life for the better. Each time I have learned something about the world, and it has renewed my zest for life.

When I was 18 and in high school, my motto was, “Don’t let school get in the way of your education”.  I was very comfortable with school.  I knew how to get good grades and I knew how the system worked.  However I was frustrated with how slow and rigid the system was.  At the end of high school I sent out my post secondary applications like the system teaches you to, but before the responses arrived I realized I couldn’t bare another four years of the same monotony.  At the same time we were experimenting with providing internet access, and I decided to not open those post secondary response envelopes and instead to start a business of my own.

I’ve never once regretted making that choice.  Sure I missed out on “good college memories” that everyone seems to have.  I also missed out on many great educational opportunities that a university could have provided.  But what I gained far outweighed what I lost.  Not only did I acquire an in depth knowledge of how the internet works, how small businesses struggle and compete, and how to understand your customer.  I also acquired renewed enthusiasm for taking control of my life.   I’m convinced that that enthusiasm has done more for me than four years of schooling would have.

I remember the first vacation that I planned.  It wasn’t extravagant, just a driving / camping trip from Toronto to Maine and back.  My current wife, then girlfriend, Leanne came along.  While it didn’t provide a lot of rest, as a typical vacation should, it taught me another valuable lesson.  I realized that your location can be a comfort zone that needs to be expanded from time to time. I had been travelling that far before, as a child.  Leanne however had not left the bounds of Ontario, save a trip to Disney World with her aunt and uncle.  I remember watching her eyes and her mind widen just as mine had years before when I broke the bounds of traditional schooling.  Since then we’ve driven around North America and backpacked Europe, and our eyes and mind have widened as we grew together.

So I’ve learned to challenge boundaries in my educational/work life and I’ve enjoyed broadening my horizons through travel.  I would sum those together as intellectual boundaries.  Kilimanjaro certainly expands that further, but it adds an entirely new challenge.  Physical.

If you had asked why Kilimanjaro now, that would be an easy answer.  You can’t climb with kids and I would certainly like to have children in my life.  While some adventures can just as easily be done after retirement, climbing to the highest accessible point on earth isn’t one of them.  Living life in Toronto is relatively easy, and I can’t wait to find out if I have the combination of mental and physical toughness to make it to the top.  I can’t wait to find out what I’ll learn about the world, about who I am, and about how to live my life.

I fully expect this essay to change after I reach the summit, but that might be the biggest reason to go.  Kilimanjaro is the highest mountain in Africa, which makes it one of the elite “seven summits”.  It is the highest point on earth you can walk to.  It is where I will watch the sun rise on October 21st, 2005.

Brian

Submitted by Lisa - Friday, September 30, 2005 20:23:01

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