Hello beautiful people
On today’s podcast we have the courageous Paul Pritchard. Paul was a cutting-edge rock climber and mountaineer; having his adventures take him from the Himalayas to Patagonia to the European Alps. In 1997 Paul won the Boardman/Tasker Award for mountain literature for his book ‘Deep Play’ in which he spent the prize money on a world climbing tour, finding himself climbing the slender sea stack known as the Totem Pole in Tasmania that is 65 metres high and 4 metres wide. It was at the Totem Pole in 1998, that a laptop sized boulder fell from 25 metres and hit Paul on the head; inflicting such great injuries that doctors thought he would never walk or speak again. Fortunately, he was able to, however he does have hemiplegia; experiencing paralysis on the right side of his body and the brain injury does continue to inform his speech and memory. Though Paul is now disabled, Paul is passionate about insisting that this does not mean he is unable; having since the accident climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, rode a trike through Tibet to Mount Everest, in 2016 climbed the infamous Totem Pole, 18 years after his accident, and most recently cycled through deserts and mountains for a distance of 2152km in the ‘Lowest to Highest Expedition’ in Australia.
What I personally love about this podcast is Paul’s tenacity in continuing to live a courageous and adventurous life post-accident. He shares deep wisdom about the power of the now, the power of absolute presence, and the power of true acceptance; which he so astutely shares does not mean resignation. I will highlight that Paul does have a brain injury, as he humoursely states, ‘he is missing half his brain and most of it is plastic’; so in saying this, I have edited this podcast with Paul’s encouragement to cut out pauses that he may be using to gather his thoughts as his brain does work at 50% capacity. I have left a couple of authentic and vulnerable moments in there on purpose, for us to truly connect with some of Paul’s challenges when it comes to his daily life; and what really impresses me is despite these challenges in this form of communication, Paul continues to write award-winning books, with his most recent book ‘The Mountain Path’ taking him 6 years to complete; typing each key with one finger ever so considered. So I think there is certainly an indirect lesson of embodying patience, particularly when it comes to your goals, from Paul too.
If you are enjoying this podcast, please rate, review, subscribe, share with friends and family, become part of the To Be Human Collective, and be present, be inspired, by this raw conversation with Paul Pritchard.
Connect with Me
Mindset Coaching | https://www.jennahlouise.com.au
Instagram Personal | https://www.instagram.com/jennah_louise
Connect with Paul
Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/_paulpritchard_
Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/paulpritchard.com.au
Website | http://www.paulpritchard.com.au
