Inspiration

[+TeamSeekAndWeShallFind]

Isn't it interesting and wonderful how certain people cross our life paths and change how we look at things or open our eyes to something we didn't see clearly before or were oblivious to ? These people may change the way we think and thus inspire us to change for the better.

 

To inspire others is why we're all here. It's not easy to inspire others so if and when we do, we've done something wonderful.

 

I have been inspired by a local cacher. I have come to learn this cacher is handicapped. I started noticing her logs approximately 6 months ago because they were so beautifully written, positive and upbeat. The enthusiasm she displayed in her logs drew me in and made me want to read what she had to say. That doesn't happen very often. Only recently did she disclose that she's handicapped and walks with a cane.

 

We've been placing caches for a long time and currently own 200. The handicap attribute has always been a struggle for us and how to use it because frankly and honestly, we didn't know any handicap cachers in our area. We have always based our ratings on and chosen attributes that cater to the non-impaired/fully functional/fully capable geocacher. For example:If the terrain is flat grass or blacktop and GZ is a few hundred feet from the road, rate it a 1 for terrain and use the, "not handicap friendly," attribute instead of rating it a 1.5 for terrain which automatically makes it not handicapped friendly.

 

It makes me angry how so many non-handicapped cachers in our area use the fact that the handicap friendly attribute is present on a cache page when they post DNF logs. In other words, making statements in DNF logs like, "This is supposed to be handicap friendly so why can't I find it ?" Very capable cachers complain and whine about caches, ratings and attributes EVERY DAY but the lady I'm telling you about has NEVER, NOT ONCE, visited any cache, discovered she's not able to retrieve it, and posted a negative or rude log !

 

Her husband, whom she adoringly refers to as a,"half muggle," drives her around and helps her along her way with finding Geocaches and she openly expresses how much she loves him in her logs because he helps her with this, "thing," she loves to do. Her discovery of geocaching has literally changed her life and given her a reason to get outside and walk !

 

I recently started speaking to her via email and she is possibly, probably, THE NICEST, most genuine and happy person on the face of the Earth.

 

Her name is Lynn and she inspires me.I want to place some caches just for her. I hope to meet her in person someday.

[+buttaskotch]

A sweet thread in a sea of negativity. Thanks for posting this, its warmed my heart. Today is going to be a good day.

[+The Blorenges]

What an excellent OP.

 

I do hope Lynn continues to enjoy her caching and any caches you place for her.

 

Maybe you can link her to this whole topic?

 

MrsB

[+MamaKatS]

That is just full of WIN and AWESOME!

[+captnemo]

A sweet thread in a sea of negativity. Thanks for posting this, its warmed my heart. Today is going to be a good day.

a big +1

[+StarBrand]

How very cool!! Your inspiration is inspiring in and of itself.

[+ihatethistles]

Here I Am

 

I just found out that I’ve been an inspiration to someone. Really amazed me and stunned me into stupefied silence. How cool! Somebody’s been watching me. Through a sliver of time, through my logs! Finding that out made me giddy, because so often I feel like my life makes no difference. I have multiple sclerosis, have had it since 1986, when I was 28 and running through the woods. It took a long time for me to become as disabled as I am, so I’m very thankful for the life of love and adventure that I’ve had so far. Now I walk with a cane, but barely. My balance is really going. I estimate that this will be the last year that I’ll be able to walk. Nice time to discover geocaching… Since July 2010 I’ve found 284 caches and love the blend of the hunt, obsession, spreadsheets, maps and especially nature and the outdoors. Before then, I spent a lot of time sleeping all day long while the sun shone through the windows. Geocaching has given me a series of obtainable goals which bring me out of the house, to walk, often to beautiful areas that I didn’t know were there. I have something fun to look forward to on a regular basis. What better motivation is there for exercising? My sweet, half-muggle husband helps me walk when I have to do terrains greater than 1.5. My childhood buddy comes with me on all day caching sprees. I am meeting the greatest people – cachers! I’m so glad to hear that people enjoy reading my logs. I want others to experience the same happiness by identifying with my small adventures. As a newbie, I thought people got mad if you wrote a lot. Not so. Good! I’ll keep on recording every little victory. Thanks, TSAWSF, for letting me know that I am special. yOu aRe pReTTy dArN cOOl YourSeLf!

 

Lynnie

[+popokiiti]

Thank you for sharing this - as my Mum would have said "it warms the cockles of my heart." MrsB may have heard that phrase. Lynnie, you have proved something else to me, again said by my dearly departed Mum. "You can let this illness rule your life, or you can rule it." Good for you! You are an inspiration to us all, and I wish you the very best.

[+Crow-T-Robot]

Thank you for sharing this! A great inspiration, indeed. The next time I have to DNF a cache, I'll remember that it's not so bad.

 

Geocachers tend to be people that like to get outdoors, go hiking in the woods, wade through streams when necessary, etc...we more or less look at a forest as a jungle gym. Sometimes we forget that there are people for whom it's a struggle just to walk across a room or dial a phone or do any of the other hundreds of things we do daily without having to think about it. I'd hate to think that geocaching wasn't available to them just because everything was hidden deep in the woods or on top of a mountain.

[+TeamSeekAndWeShallFind]

Wow ! What can I say ? I revisited my inspiration thread this morning and was so touched and happy to see the kind posts it received ! I am ESPECIALLY happy to see the post by Lynn aka ihatethistles, or should I say ihatethistles aka Lynn ?

 

As I stated in my OP, figuring out how to properly use the handicap attribute has been a struggle for us. If we place a cache that requires a short or even longer walk across flat grassy/sandy/gravel terrain, we would rate it a 1 for terrain and choose the, "not handicap accessible," attribute. Upon publication of said cache we would receive the recommendation from our local publisher that we should think about changing our terrain rating to 1.5 if it isn't handicap accessible. We had a hard time differentiating between rating our cache a 1 for terrain and choosing the, "not handicap accessible," attribute and/or rating our cache a 1.5 for terrain and not having to worry about choosing/not choosing the, "handicap/not handicap accessible," attribute.

 

I'm going to be honest and PLEASE don't hate me ! I would say to myself, "What's the difference ?" If I rate our cache a 1 for terrain and choose the,"not handicap friendly," attribute or I rate it a 1.5, (which automatically makes it not handicap friendly and our local publisher isn't going to send us that email), and not have to worry about the handicap attribute ?

 

Because of Lynn I now realize my ignorance. I was TOTALLY catering to the non-challenged cacher because I didn't know or know of any physically challenged cachers in my area !Were they out there ? Little did I know, there are several physically challenged cachers in my area ! Thing is, those challenged cachers never came out and publicly state in their logs that they're physically challenged !

 

Ironically, soon after discovering Miss Lynn is a physically challenged cacher, I "met," ANOTHER local cacher who is also physically challenged ! She sent us THE MOST wonderful email about our cemetery cache series and said how much she loved the series and the hides. She kept asking me how many of our hides required climbing ? My first thought was, "Hmmm. Does she want me to send her a breakdown of our hides and where they're hidden ?" Then, after talking for awhile, she told me she has Fybromyalgia.

 

This lady caches with her young son any chance they get and her logs are ALWAYS the most upbeat and positive. She never complains or whines or posts rude, negative logs on the cache pages for those caches she can't retrieve. Proof ? See the notes she posted for our, "Paul," cache and our, "Gimme 3 Steps," cache.

 

I look at meeting these 2 ladies as a blessing in disguise or a rude awakening or whatever you want to call it. Believe me when I say, I am NOT easily inspired so it's huge for me to be touched by 2 people in a matter of days who change the way I look at something !

 

Long story short: My struggle with the handicap attribute and how to use it properly is no more thanks to Lynn and Jeannie.

[+Michaelcycle]

Lynn: I LOVE your avatar.

Thanks for sharing your story.

[+ALAUNOS]

Awesome...that's all I can say