We are Living Our Lives to the Fullest!!! We are a group of people that get together to have fun, meet new friends, explore new and exciting adventures, participate in various outdoor activities that give us an opportunity to enjoy life while getting and/or staying healthy, fit and being the best person we be!
This is my first blog. I hope you will find it interesting and inspiring. I became so inclined to start this blog as I reflected upon 2011 and all the great things that are happening in my life! I conducted a ‘Living Life to the Fullest!!! seminar in October and it was awesome. However, there were those who contacted me with great regret that they were unable to make it for various reasons and were inquiring when I would hold the next one. I got such good response from it and continue to get great response from those who join me on my hikes, I vowed that I wanted to find some way to share all the great experiences they were and are having…not so much in my words, but in their words…thus this blog.
I actually started Hartfield’s Hikers in 2010 for selfish reasons…I wanted to hike and did not want to do it alone. I was introduced to hiking by the Black Newcomers Network when I went on my first hike, ever in life to celebrate by 56th birthday in 2004. It was so exhilarating! I was hooked!! At the end of the hike, hike leader Clarence Wilson told me it was the hardest hike that the group does. He was smart enough to tell me that at the end of the hike and not before. I did not know it was supposed to be hard and even lead the group at various points. It was a great way to celebrate my birthday…on top of the mountain. The hiking trail was to Blood Mountain, the highest point on the Appalachian Trail in the state of Georgia. Clarence’s work schedule changed and he was not longer available to lead the hikes and asked me if I was interested…this was several years later in 2009. I saw it as a great opportunity, as he had taught me a lot about the trails. However, with him gone, I was not as confident as I thought I would be, so I signed up for the training class and became an Outings Leader with the Sierra Club. Later, after establishing a partnership with REI, I became certified in Wilderness First Aid. I must say that my good friend Paulette Scott who was as green as I was about hiking agreed to ‘have my back.’ Although she used to complain most of the time, she has continued to hang in there with me. I appreciate her support very much!
We also join with other groups and as a result have gone horseback riding, zip lining, caving, bicycle riding, skiing and more!
Then, being a true Baby Boomer, once again for selfish reasons, I started OPALs, which stands for Older People with Active Lifestyles. This group brings together other Baby Boomers who want to enjoy fun activities with people in their own age range. I was actually introduced to this concept when I reached the age of 50 and lived in Detroit. I joined the Masters Sports program, lead by Cal ‘Captain D’ Dilworth and started paying organized basketball for the first time since middle school and loved it! This was also a great time in my life. I met a lot of great people, got my exercise in while having fun and I really believe it saved my sanity seeing that I was going through menopause at the time. I traveled around the country with the team and we won gold and silver medals in various state, national and world senior competitions and Olympics. I earned MVP during one of our games!
I must add here that I am having the best time of my life right now, I am truly Living my Life to the Fullest!!! Others have joined me and I want to share the things we are doing that are really sensational, yet simple! It never fails, every time we are out, someone shares with me how the experience has changed not only their perspective on trekking trails in the mountains, but how the experience has actually changed their life. It is their stories that invigorate me and keep me doing this month after month. As long as I know what I do is helping others and in the process enjoying every moment of it myself, I am fulfilling my purpose. There are other things I do also that I will discuss later that include my online health and wellness store, my Adventurers Meetup group and my online newsletters.
What are you doing to Live Your Life to the Fullest? Tell us about it.
Living Life to the Fullest!!! 