365 Days of Change: Seek and Ye Shall Find
DAY 12 - PERSISTENCE (September 2, 2012)
I have missed a day in the 365 days of change, but it will be added to the end of my blog sequence. What happened? Where did I go? I am persistent, and it can be fairly tiring.
Since August 24, 2011 (the start of my involvement), I have searched the Highwood area of Kananaskis for missing 59 year-old Australian hiker Kevin Kennedy, along with many others from Kevin's family, RCMP, Kananaskis Emergency Services, search and rescue groups across Alberta and British Columbia, the hunting, fish and wildlife communities, and the hiking/scrambling/mountaineering communities – including my home club: Calgary Scrambling and Mountaineering Club. What has happened in the 365+ days since I became involved with this unique personal quest is a tremendously involved story – to be told some day, perhaps. For now, this journey continues. Since he set out on August 21, 2011 on a four-hour hike with the objective of completing the Tyrwhitt Loop, Kevin remains missing. Many of us continue to search (until the snow drives us away for the second year) for evidence to give his family closure. To some, I’m obsessed. To others, I possess conviction. Everyone has a different take on what it signifies to be doing what I’m doing. Where is the line between Obstinacy and Persistence? There isn’t one, because O comes before P in the alphabet, and they stand - naturally - side by side. This is my take, on what I’m doing…
PERSISTENCE
What then – once again, when my feet are sore and my muscles ache – what then, is my decision on which road to take? Do I fold and buckle, slump low to the ground, and say with a sigh - I have given, I did try. What then, can be done, when all others say stop! – I am obsessed, I am driven, is it not quite enough!?
It is enough when the thing I seek, is found. It is enough when the purpose behind the passion, comes around. I follow my own inspiration - I am both hero and fool. I recognize, but do not passively follow, others’ rules.
What now – once again, when my feet are fresh and my muscles new – what now, is my decision when all is reviewed? Do I focus and plan, search until the snow, and say with new hope – I will succeed, I will know. What now, will be done, while all others do watch – I am committed, I am loyal, and that is conviction enough.
"Something hidden. Go and find it. Go and look behind the Ranges. Something lost behind the Ranges. Lost and waiting for you. Go!" - Rudyard Kipling
Shouldn't it read "Since he set out on August 21, 2011", not 2012?
ReplyDeleteThanks Jon! I've changed. Writing gets like that ... you stare at it seeing something else entirely. Thank you!!!!
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