Wow, he's a hero!

Hopefully you are aware of Dallam Outdoors' lecture series by now. We have been lucky enough to hear from some amazing people who have done, or are planning, some incredible adventures. We've got Hugh St Lawrence coming in next week (Thursday, 7pm) to chat to us about his exploration of the world's largest caves in Mulu, Borneo. Fab stuff all round.

As excited as I am to welcome yet another inspirational person into our cosy outdoor ed classroom, one thing has been bugging me. Whenever we talk about people achieving things, not just in the outdoors world, we become overwhelmed by them and often elevate them to 'hero' status: 'Wow, he's a hero!'.

NEWSFLASH: He's not a hero!

I do not mean to take any merit away from some of our previous speakers as they have done some incredible things (cycled around the world, done solo canoe expeditions in rural areas, climbed some pretty big hills and raised massive amounts of money for charity) BUT they are not heroes. They have found a project that inspired them and they have had enough dedication and support to fulfil their ambitions. That's all. They didn't necessarily find it easy either! They may have had money trouble, or knee trouble, or even psychological battles along the way - they are human, just like us, but they did something incredible, just like we could.

Having an adventure should not be something only 'heroes' can enjoy. It's true that not everyone will have the same aims or chase the same dreams, but that's fine! Getting outdoors and doing something new is enough of an adventure for some people and we should encourage and respect that. I think a 6 year old child getting wet feet for the first time in one of Ingleton's caves is as much of a hero as the experienced climber who ticks off yet another E1. And maybe when that small child is 26 they can come and tell us about their latest achievements!

Anyway, I hope you will be inspired to get outdoors and become your own hero. You will amaze yourself with what you can achieve.

Any thoughts? Let us know. Or maybe see you next Thursday to hear from one of our 'heroes' :-)

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dallam outdoors