Wow! Just a story that resonated with me so much. This was definitely the most inspiring story I’ve ever heard in my life, and it almost reduced me to tears at one point.
This man, by the name of David Mauro, combatted a number of things in his early forties: divorce, death, plummeting job, etc. There was a moment he was sitting on the bed in his room and said to some dolls, “I don’t need your f***ing pity!” Something fell in the kitchen downstairs at the time of the echo, too.
He then went out on a journey to Alaska, most notably, Mt Denali. This is where the journey OFFICIALLY began.
Each mountain he climbed on all seven continents represented a pillar of “destruction.” Meaning, every time he climbed a mountain, he had to face a problem from the past. He went to Tanzania after Alaska, after getting approval from his girlfriend at the time, and set out on an expedition where he saw some of the most beautiful, yet lethal roses, thorns and animals on planet Earth — which had its own symbolism.
The part that made me realize a lot about my past (father) was his climb up Mt. Aconcagua in Argentina. He said it was the worst. Yes, even worse than Everest. He had to face something that was lying dormant in his mind for years — his father left him. At a young age, his father disappeared, but then reappeared when his wife (another) had left him and he had dementia.
As David was climbing this mountain, he began to hallucinate. The hallucination was basically him seeing his father as a 7-year-old kid with dementia. At that time, he reached out to his father and put his hand on his shoulder and said some words. This correlated with the reality that his father, who had left him a long time ago, needed his help. This hit one of the softest spots of me because I do believe that something is still underlying about my father leaving me when I was a kid.
The rest is in the podcast interview down below!
Arsenio's ESL Podcast 
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