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I somehow don't feel that inspiring. I am more of an ornery old cuss
who is lucky enough to have had the genes and good health that enabled
me to make these trips. If my example does inspire people to remain as
active as they can be as they get older - fine, but it is more luck than
anything else. My admiration goes out to those who have made the pilgrimages
in spite of real adversities. The subject of pain and suffering has been
on the agenda of the group lately. In an offlist message to the originator
of the topic, I said that I really did not experience much more of that
than I would have by staying at home and a couple of other respondents
have expressed the same idea. I have certainly met a number of pilgrims
who had pain and suffering as a result of walking the pilgrimage, but it
is not inevitable and I don't think that it is all that common. People
who do the Appalachian and Pacific Crest Trails have much rougher
terrain and have to carry much more weight - and they are doing it for
<i>fun.</i>I don't think that the physical difficulties of the pilgrimage
should be dismissed, but I do think that they tend to be exaggerated on
this forum.
<p>regards,
<p>Robert
<p>wisdom's aspirant wrote:
<blockquote TYPE=CITE><font size=+0>You were 75 at the time???!!! What
an absolutely WONDERFUL inspiration you are!</font>
<br><font size=+0>Deanna</font></blockquote>
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