Article November 14, 2011 Issue

To master the challenge

By Elaine Lang

There is something beyond entertaining about watching expert athletes defy conventional limits to accomplish what looks impossible. My husband and I have had the privilege of witnessing, first hand, remarkable achievements in extreme sports from the Sydney and Salt Lake Olympics to the Indianapolis 500 and the Cheyenne Rodeo, which has increased our admiration for these displays of breathtaking mastery. Our adult children tease me about the irony of my enthusiasm for the X Games or NASCAR or the Tour de France, because I’m the least athletic person in the family by a long shot! Perhaps our appreciation for those who do the remarkable is even greater when it doesn’t seem possible to us.

Every one of us gains tremendous satisfaction in overcoming limitations, don’t we? Whether it’s physical, mental, academic, professional, or artistic achievement, nothing quite matches the gratification of mastering a challenge, overcoming a difficulty, accomplishing something we didn’t think we could do.

I had a rare opportunity to learn what’s achievable when I was invited to participate in an off-road Ranger Rover event. Each individual driver would be coached by pros through wild and dangerous natural obstacles in a rugged, forested mountainous region.

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