What passion can do?

By.E.Shanmugasundaram

Millions of years have gone in the annals of human history. But in every century and in every generation only the men and women with passion have made all the difference. Every leaf of the history book is filled with the stories of those passionate people who held their nerves against all odds. The mighty oak started with the seed and every dream realized, started with passion as its base. Passion for the downtrodden and untouchables made Mother Teresa, immortal. Passion for freedom, passion towards his country men made Mahatma, the father of India. Passion can turn anything to gold. It can overcome any obstacle. It can energize your heart when faced with misfortunes. With passion, every obstacle becomes a stepping stone and it carries you forward towards realizing something that you have been longing for.

Mark Inglis

Mark Inglis (27^th September 1959-Newzealand) had passion for mountaineering.  At the age of 20 in 1979 he started his career as a search and rescue mountaineer in the Aoraki/Mount Cook, the highest mountain in New Zealand. In 1982, he got struck in a cave in Mount Cook for 13 days due to a blizzard. He was rescued but both his legs are to be amputated below the knees because they were completely damaged by frost bite. Though his legs have gone, he never let his passion go. He repeatedly tried to climb Mount Cook and on 7^th January 2002, he reached the summit of Mount Cook. His passion drove him little bit higher. This achievement propelled him to achieve greater heights.

In 2006, he ventured to climb the world’s tallest peak, the Mount Everest. He struggled for 40 days. While on the move, his anchor failed and Inglis fell and broke one of his carbon fiber prosthetic legs. He repaired it temporarily with duct tapes and continued his journey. Finally on May 15^th of 2006, he stood on the roof of the world, realizing  his dream. He has achieved something that nobody else would have dared even to dream. He became the first ever double amputee to reach the summit of the great Mount Everest.

He has authored several books -  'No Mean Feat', 'Off the Front Foot', 'To The Max', 'Legs on Everest', and 'High Tech Legs on Everest'. He is now running a charitable trust Limbs4All and lives happily with his wife and 3 children in New Zealand.

While writing about Mark Inglis, I was reminded of a quote by Harold Abbot.

“I had the blues because I had no shoes. Until, upon the street, I met a man who had no feet”

If a man without legs can climb to the top of the world with the power of passion, Can’t you?

For hundreds of motivating pictures visit my facebook page "Gateway to leisure" or click on the link below:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Gateway-to-leisure/174514152640708