Tackling the Manitou Incline!

Today, I finally did something that I have wanted to do for
almost all 33 years that I have lived in Colorado Springs.

I hiked the Manitou Incline. Obviously, if you are not from
the area, you probably could care less. But the Incline is
kind of a special memory in our city.

From 1906 to 1990, it carried passengers from Manitou
Springs, from an elevation of 6,574 feet to the top of
the mountain, elevation 9,450 feet...STRAIGHT up.
The total distance of the hike is just a bit over 1 mile.
But it is one of the toughest miles I have ever hiked!

It took us almost one and a half hours!

2800 FEET STRAIGHT UP! And if you are a flatlander,
you should know there is a serious LACK of oxygen
at these elevations.

At its steepest grade, you face a 68% gradient. To get
an idea, look at the pics I took today...what does a
68% grade look like?

Anyway, at one time you could ride a railway to the
top. Today, the railway is long gone, but everyday,
you can find people hiking this unique trail.

Here is my point. I finally did something that I had
had on a list of things to accomplish. It felt good.
this was one of those things that had been on that
list a long time!

And it removed some doubt as to how I would handle
the hike at 45 years old, and having been VERY inactive
for the past couple of years. I am going to make a goal
to hike Pikes Peak this summer. That is a 13 mile hike
to the summit at 14,115 feet. I have not done this since
high school, if I remember right.

What really felt good was getting out...away from the
computer...out of this chair! I spend WAY too much
time sitting in front of this thing. As the weather now
improves everyday, I plan to make getting outside a
priority.

Try getting outside more where you are...get away for
awhile. I forgot how good it feels.

Living in Colorado gives me a distinct advantage.

My story about the hike will be online at OurSprings.com
in just a few days.

JOB Replacement

Do you like your job? Do you work for yourself?

There has really only been ONE job I have ever really enjoyed
for more than a few years, and that was teaching. I did make
a career of it. It was rewarding and each day literally was unlike
any other. Even when teaching the same unit year after year,
you could make it fresh by finding new sources of info or new
ways to present it.

But after almost 20 years of that, the job description and
requirements had changed so much, that their came a time
to move on and do something different, new, challenging.

As I have grown older, I find that the last thing I want to
spend my next 20 years doing is working for someone else!
While there is a lot of security (health benefits, weekly pay, ?)
there are so many compromises in your personal freedom.
And that security is very often false security. Just looking
at the number of people being let go, layed off, down-sized
is enough to make me wonder why anyone thinks they
are secure working for any company!

I can list a few that had "never had a layoff" .. HP for
example. Well, it was many years, but even an HP
finally had to layoff its employees. At least they were
given nice severance packages.

It still baffles me to find so many people seemingly
happy to be working for others. When I look more
closely, I will often find that the apparent contentment
is really masking a whole lot of discontentment!

Which brings me to my point. I am committed to
finding an honest, rewarding means to make my
living...working for myself, preferably from home!

I have noted that HYPE is a huge roadblock in the
search of a true opportunity.

One more I now add and came to me from a quote that
was posted for a short time at that ColoradoGuy web
site. It was from II Timothy. The wise words said that some
people, eager for money, had wandered from the truth,
and in so doing, burdened themselves with much grief!

Isn't that the truth.

So many of our problems are a result of getting away
from what we know to be true and good for ourselves
and others, all in the name of our own greed.

I am watching out for that especially when looking at all
the promotion for how others are making it online. Greed
is most often the ploy to attract you.

The result can only burden you with grief.


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