Actually you can!

Is today the day that you are going to stop saying...I will do what I love when I get skinny...I don't have time...I will do it tomorrow and so on. These are excuses and you are putting limitations on yourself. You can do it! You don't need to be skinny, fit, or any other excuse, you just need... you.

Meet my dad. He is an inspiration to my sister, Nicole, and I. If you knew my dad years ago you would know a man who hiked, roller bladed, rode his bike, and ran. He ate healthy and was good to his body. Twelve years ago, my dad and I were running together at Burnaby Lake. He started dragging his leg and went to see the doctor right away. It was the start of horrible news...my dad would be diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease. Last year my step-mom found my dad laying un-conscious at the bottom of their stairs. After a lengthily stay at the hospital and two massive strokes it was determined he had had a heart attack twenty years earlier. During that heart attack a blood clot was released and it took twenty years to show its ugly face in the form of two strokes. My dad is now 68 years old. I love him so much and feel blessed we have been able to hike these past two summer's. I'm hoping for some 2013/14 show shoeing as well.

Today my dad seems ok. He understands most stuff if you write it down but has limited language. If you ask my dad about hiking, he can pretty much lead any hike. He knows the trails and how to get to them. He is an inspiration. This is my dad & I today at Mount Seymour, Dog Mtn trail. it is a 5 km, exposed roots with rolling hills, in/out trail. Yes my dad did it!

So I say again you don't need to be anything to find your passion and do what you love. For me, it is hiking & Dragon Boating. I'm not skinny but I have worked my way into being quite fit. On many hikes most people are ahead of me. I don't care, it's not going to stop me! I have painful heel spurs in both feet... I don't care, it's not going to stop me! I'm here to tell you, actually you can do it! 


Happy trails! By Lori Pederson

---