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What if you could start over...I mean, really start over? What if you could just remove yourself from the rat race and head off on a six month adventure and challenge yourself mentally and physically to do things that you never, ever thought possible? What if you could just chunk your career and take this opportunity to really get to know yourself and contemplate and discover what things are really, really important to you so that when you returned, you'd have the confidence and drive to find a new career that's truly rewarding and meaningful? And what if you could combine this journey with a fundraising opportunity for a local worthy charity, and touch the lives of thousands of people, including your own, in the process? Would you do it? And if you would, but haven't, then what's stopping you? I am asked constantly why I am doing this, and some of the reasons above are why. Other reasons are less tangible. Still other answers have not yet revealed themselves, but will no doubt do so at some point, between Georgia and Maine. If you have always dreamed of an opportunity to start over, then take heart, because it is certainly within your power to do so. It may take several years or more of planning as it did with me. But if you don't do this...where will you be anyway several years from now? I am no mountain man, to be sure - At least not right now. Sure, I've played out in the woods for many years growing up and always loved the outdoors. But when the toils of life caught up to me, I slacked. Despite playing sports in school and during college, the whole job thing kind of slowed down my extracurricular activities. And when the computer field found me in its infancy, two decades of a mostly sedentary lifestyle followed. It was on a trip to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park in 2002 when the wife and I first found the Appalachian Trail. We stopped at a place called Newfound Gap where the path crossed - An impressive display of photos and plaques gave the story of the trail. I had heard about it but only barely knew how to spell it. I took a peek around the sign and peered up a man-made dirt staircase that seemed to rise up farther than I could see. What sights were up there, I thought? Just more trees? Naked women? One of those machines you put 50 cents into and these two molds press together and fill with wax giving you a wax bear or deer or something to take home? I grabbed my wife by the hand and together we ventured up the venerable path made of dirt and wood. I don't remember whether I was calling God to take me after 40 or 50 steps...it could have been 30. All I knew was that if my heart didn't burst through my chest like in Alien, then I must have already perished and I was in some sort of dream state. I glanced at my wife and gave a conceding sigh. I really wanted to know what was up ahead, but there was no way I was in shape to go any further. It was discouraging, but I admitted defeat and did what anyone else in my shoes would have done. I drove us down to Gatlinburg for lunch. We ate pretty much guilt-free, despite the earlier pathetic display of our hiking prowess, but afterwards agreed to make at least some amends by walking up and down the one-mile strip for exercise. As we finished our amble, we went into one last shop near the edge of town called "Under the Smoke." This shop catered to mostly non-computer people, it was clear, because much of the store's contents I had never seen before. Bird watching kits, field guides to the local flora and fauna and just about every other item of interest to people who actually spend time outdoors filled every nook and cranny. In short, I was hopelessly lost and took a stroll upstairs admiring the dozens of beautiful nature photographs taken by the shop owner, but soon found myself amidst another sea of compelling, yet foreign items. I turned to my left and saw, above a doorway to a little room, a wooden carved sign that said, "Your Journey Begins Here." | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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