Great article. Craig will have a book ou

Great article. Craig will have a book out soon. Met him this fall – great guy http://ow.ly/8q7LA

Good times today @Teva #Tevamountaingame

Good times today @Teva #Tevamountaingames – some photos: http://ow.ly/58VIc

This Blog’s New Home www.highersummits.com

This blog can now be followed on my website www.highersummits.com See you there!

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1 million small steps to the Top

Trusty Steeds

This morning I gave a presentation to a young ,and small, consulting group in Denver Colorado that is well on their way to being a great success.  As I was getting dressed I thought about the journey they are on and how easy it is to look far ahead at distant goals and financial desires.  I began to slip on my nice leather dress shoes thinking of the saying that goes “you can tell a lot about a man by the shoes he wears.”  I realized that these shoes said nothing about me at all.  I quickly opted for my trusty old Gore-Tex trail runners that had been around the world with me, stepped on dung piles for me, forded icy creeks under me, ran from storms to safety and even managed to share a few summits propped up on my feet above me.  These are the shoes that say the most about me and know me best.  They have holes in the toes, the rubber flaps loosely below, the laces are a thread away from breaking and the lining is coming out, yet they have never given me a blister.  I can’t just toss them in the trash, they have been a trusted companion trail or no trail.  I told them why I had worn these shoes and then said this is the like the journey of a consultant: built on trust and relationship that should endure the long road.  Hopefully you will provide the kind of service that keeps clients coming back until you fit like that favorite old shoe.  Walk beside them step by slow, small, step focused on one thing at a time knowing that the main objective is always out there and may, often only be reached after partnering for a million little strides.

The Short Bus

Put yourself back in the latter years of elementary school.  When you arrive at that place back in time, think of the end of the

Parker

day and getting on the bus.  The line of busses with numbers corresponding to the routes they drove and a driver who did his best to get you home safely in spite of balls, food, books, and the small kids being thrown about.  Now think about the bus that was shorter than all the others and the people who got on that bus.  If you don’t remember this bus, that is partly my point.  Typically this bus was filled with the kids that had special needs, were in special ed, and only got attention when they were being made fun of.  It was like this at my school, and most kids didn’t want to associate with the “short bus” group lest the ailments be contagious and the stigma be too much to ever wash off.

If it were the first day and you were attending a new school, what group would you most want to make friends with right away?  The smart, the pretty, the funny, the athletic standouts they all come to mind well before the riders of the short bus.

My nephew Parker was just in this exact situation.  He made it to the lunch room, had no friends, and needed a place to sit.

Parker could have forced himself in with many groups because he is handsome, smart, fun to be with and the list goes on, but he chose to sit with the kid who had one arm, the girl who was partially blind and gazed at the ceiling, and those with developmental issues.  It probably was not his first choice, but he did it anyway and made a brave choice.  My sister was sad and thought it to be perhaps a bit pitiful for her boy.  I told her that an act like that from a kid like him is much more nobel than pitiful and is indeed something that makes God smile.  My little nephew reminded me that it is good sometimes to take a ride on the “short bus” and show others that you care.  He has just challenged me to re-evaluate my own pursuits and intentions.  I am proud of that boy.

Game Changing Moments

Recently I uploaded a video to an online leadership conference.  The one question that was asked to those who wished to submit a video was: “Can you describe a game changing moment in your life?”  My submission is the three minute video below and describes how an unlikely team changed the game of climbing Mt. Everest.

Friday’s Stress Free Moment

Maybe your computer has crashed, your documents got deleted, the phone disconnected, fire has threatened your home, the kids won’t stop crying, the car is dying, traffic is snarled and your feeling gnarled.  Take one second, breathe deep, watch Beaver Creek roll by and imagine you are there sipping your favorite beverage in the shade of these trees.  Ciao stress, until next week when we meet again.

A Warrior Rests

A warrior has died.  A person wholly committed to a cause greater than the individual.  Many have died in Iraq and Afghanistan recently and we should all mourn their loss and be thankful at the same time, but the friend I lost was not in the military. This past week I have had to come to a deeper understanding of what a warrior is and repaint the picture of what it means to be in battle.  Maybe it has been the Apache Indian dressed in war paint, or the branches of the military: Army, Navy, Airforce, Marines that have shaped my perception of what a warrior is.  A person physically strong, trained for combat, one who runs to the battle line and does not withdraw or freeze fits my mold of what a warrior should be.  A warrior fights for another unable to fight for themselves out of loyalty, sacrifice, with cause and purpose.  A warrior is a strategist that fights for beliefs and values not satisfied until the battle is won.  David of the Bible is a great example of one running to the battle picking up the fight where others would not dare.  Going out in confidence standing on his values and beliefs, David stood against his foe for the sake of his nation, in the name of God.

The warrior I am speaking of lost her life in a battle with MS.  Physically Darlene was the antithesis of what a warrior should look like as she had been bound to a motorized wheelchair for over twenty years, but in spirit she possessed every trait that a true warrior could have.  Daily she entered the battle in prayer lifting up others and their needs before her own.  The disease was painful and crippling and even when she could not feed, or care for herself she continued going out into battle daily for the sake of others who really, at least on the outside, were far more capable and less needy.  The battle with MS took a backseat to the battles she took up on behalf of her friends.  I miss Darlene, and I miss knowing that she was petitioning on my behalf as she was so faithful.  But somehow now I almost feel that she has not quit, that she has gotten her hands on the Lord’s robe and is continuing to request his help in the battle on my behalf.  Thanks Darlene, for your friendship and your example, I hope to be half the warrior you were and I am sure still are.  Your body finally rests here, however I know you will not.  You have definitely redefined what a warrior is.  (In memory of Darlene Dokken).

Garbage for Christmas

Satisfaction Guaranteed or your trash back!  That is the slogan of the Vail Honeywagon service which picks up our garbage every Thursday morning.  Trash day at our house rolls around with all the excitement of Christmas and the garbage man being held in esteem as high as Santa Claus.  My two year old twin girls run and scream with excitement when they hear the truck rumble down the road and laugh with anticipation as the pneumatic lift hoists the heavy bin with refuse from the neighbors behind us.  Running to the door, I scramble to keep up with the girls as they now scamper up the driveway to wait for this incredible machine and its display of  power and engineering.  A squatting position is assumed, as a sign of submission to the great truck, and adoring waves are thrown at the man who is today’s hero.  The event begins.  All of the things we don’t want in our lives, all of the foul, stinky, rotten garbage is taken away; steaming bags of smelly diapers, spoiled food, and the most putrid of all – junk mail.  Who in their right mind would want to take this stuff, of all things, from our home?  The man is a hero indeed, yet do we wave, smile, say hello?  Most of the time – especially before my girls – I would never even see this magic mystery man as the can would go out full and come back empty.

Now I look at him differently and with admiration because the garbage man resembles someone else I know.  This someone has also picked up the garbage of my life and taken it all away.  He’s done it for all of us, yet very few run out to meet him or want anything to do with him.  I want to run to him with the same enthusiasm of my girls because he died taking out my trash and he first came on Christmas day.  That someone lives again and wants all the trash we still put out, his name: Jesus.  Thanks garbage man for showing me that trash day is a gift like Christmas.

Friday Afternoon Stress Relief

Spending too much time at the computer?  Need to get outside?  Take a break right here and imagine you just rode this bike 2,000 vertical feet and had to set it down to go retrieve your lungs off the road before a coyote gets to them.  Take a second, say a prayer, focus on your to do list and when this is over go do it and put as #1: Have a great Weekend!