September 20, 2023 - Larger Impact With High Five By 55

One of my desires as I pursue this High Five By 55 project is to have a larger impact than just what I get it out of it. I'm not sure what I even mean by "larger impact", yet the idea bobbles in my head. These types of adventures are fundamentally selfish endeavors. Time training. Time away from family. Money spent on gear and to travel and to race. All for me. For me to pursue something. For me to push and find my limits. For me to experience places. Me. Me. Me.

And I often struggle with that notion, the selfishness of it. Yeah, there are ancillary benefits that aren't totally selfish. I'm healthy by doing these things which means I should be able to be around for my family longer. My mental health is improved and I'm a nicer and more patient person when chasing big goals and wearing myself out with exercise. I get to help others as they pursue similar goals and projects. But at the end of the day, the pursuit is a pretty individual and selfish one.

I'd like to have a larger impact, not just the selfish impact for myself and these ancillary benefits. I'd like to use the project and time I put into it to do some good. (HA! Let's not get started on defining "good!") I want someone or something else to benefit.

For Ouray 100 in 2022, I did some fundraising for Big City Mountaineers as a way to have a larger impact. I raised both quite a bit more money than I expected and less than I dreamed I might. It was a success, though. And I could do something similar again. Fundraising over an uncertain, but potentially 10 year, period sounds a bit challenging. I imagine it would feel like an awfully squishy and uncertain thing for anyone considering contributing in the first 8 or 9 years. 

And I'm not sure the fundraising thing quite suits me. (Again, being a bit selfish, right?) I'm not overly gregarious and outgoing. I'm not comfortable asking for money. I'm perhaps too skeptical and concerned that the organization receiving the money doesn't use it well despite my researching its track record in advance. Fundraising is an option to keep on the table, but I don't think it's quite the right option.

I'm trying to think of other ways to have a larger impact. I'm trying to decide what "larger impact" means for me, which might help me identify other ways to achieve it. I'm wondering.

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