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2019 was a big year. We bought a house. We started a foundation. I tore my ACL. I reached the highest point in the world. I had knee surgery. I crewed @rob.lea on his English Channel swim. I hiked up to the highest peak in the UK 6 weeks after knee surgery. We got married. I rode my bike almost a thousand miles with Rob and crewed him on his ride across America. I testified to the Senate about how climate change is affecting the mountains. I marched for climate. I shared my story with hundreds of people in real life in the many keynotes and talks I did. I took my nieces and nephews camping and taught them how to climb and ski.But perhaps what I’m most proud of in 2019 is learning how to love myself. I know that sounds cliché, but hear me out. I used to approach skiing and mountaineering as an escape and a form of self punishment. I would always try to go a little harder and push myself to hurt a little more. It was like a drug, a way of punishing my body and escaping my inner demons.It taken me a long time to work through that and come to a place where I approach what I do from a place of self love. To be able to stop when it hurts, to rest when I need it. To say no to those things that don’t serve me. Where it’s not about disciplining my body but it’s about passion and love, for the places I’m in, for my partners and for myself. Here’s to more of that in 2020. Whatever we do in 2020, let’s do it from a place of love.
