Creating Exciting Futures Beyond the Climb with Anne Lorimor Part 2 (of 2)
“Just being out there, sort of bathes me with joy and happiness. There’s something about nature, all of it, the flowers, the trees, the rocks, the mountains, the sky, the clouds, everything is just wonderful for me. It was it was just wonderful to know that that kind of lift was there for you. And then I wanted to share it with others. With people I’ve mentored, either formally or informally, I’ve always tried to get them out to appreciate nature as well.”
YOUR KEY INSIGHTS FROM Anne
Anne Lorimor is not your typical great-grandmother sitting in her rocking chair. At age 85, Anne broke the record for being the oldest woman to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro, the highest free-standing mountain in the world. Her record was soon broken, so at age 89, she returned to the mountain to reclaim the record. In July of 2019, she became the oldest person to summit Mount Kilimanjaro, giving her a place in the 2020 Guinness Book of World Records. Anne is a goal setting achiever at heart. She holds numerous degrees, including an RN, “as a backup career choice,” and never stops pushing her limits to achieve what others see as impossible.
making an impact
“I get those kids by recommendations from people who work with the kind of kids and I want to help. And so one of the big brothers who works at my bank had a boy that he recommended and he was selected by the committee. But the interesting thing was he said was, ‘Well, my family would never win anything.’ Then, we did select him. He went and he was absolutely fabulous. He's cooked since he was six years old, and he wants to be a chef and have his own restaurant some day. So at the meeting, they brainstorm a fusion restaurant with a couple of other kids. And they were just so happy with what they were doing. And the person that helped me start the organization in the first place was there, and she gave them encouragement and told them about grants that are available for needed services in low income areas. There are great chances for what can happen.
Six months or a year later, the big brother came back to me and he said, you know, Jay graduated high school. So and he said, Well, you know, he's the first person in his family ever to graduate high school. A whole bunch of them were there at the graduation and they were just so proud of him. Meanwhile, he's working in a restaurant and getting some of the kind of background experience. And I am got a couple of chefs and restaurant owners that I will introduce him to, and they've one of them who said I can give him his private phone number. So have great hopes for this kid. And he was the one though, ‘Oh, we never win anything.’
I can see this program of mine, people being helped even the hand up and then themselves paying it forward. We can have a ripple effect that could make the whole world better. Mother Teresa said something that I love. She said, ‘everyone can't do great things. But we can all do small things with great love.’
on mentors
“Someone asked me to choose some terms to describe myself. I think I'm adventuresome and caring and curious and persistent. I think all of those things had something to do with my not staying where I could have stayed. I was really fortunate in having some wonderful teachers. I could give them credit for a great deal of what I was able to become. I remember one time in high school, one of my very, very encouraging teachers, I read something that said, ‘you have to have super intelligence to go to college.’ But I said to her, ‘Well, I guess that washes me out.’ She just looked at me and she said, ‘you'll do just fine.’ And it helped to have someone who'd actually done it tell you that you could do it too.”
“There's something about nature, all of it, the flowers, the trees, the rocks, the mountains, the sky, the clouds, everything is just wonderful for me. Just being out there, sort of bathes me with joy and happiness. And I have not done as much of it as I would wish. I managed to get myself really bogged down the way people do. But somehow always I'd find a place in there to get away to nature every so often. And I think that really were sort of what kept me going. It was it was just wonderful to know that that kind of lift was there for you. And then I wanted to share it with others. As I said, with people I've mentored, either formally or informally, I've always tried to get them out to appreciate nature as well.”
looking ahead
“Seeing the world has been very exciting for me, and nearly always, that involve climbing some kind of structure. I did climb the Great Pyramid in Egypt. I don't think it's allowed anymore, but it was then and I did it. And I climbed the pyramid in Mexico City. I've climbed other mountains in Mexico, I climbed Ayers Rock in Australia.
And it's all of those things meant so very much to me. I also loved seeing art museums and historical sites and things like that. I've done it in many parts of the world, I've been to more than 100 countries. And I found them all exciting, some more than some much more than others, of course. And I think that what sort of pushes me to do this, I do have my own philosophy. And one of the things I say is, it's never too early to start. And it's never too late to learn and grow.
One other thing that I have, that I say pretty strongly. And that is it's important to find your focus. You really need to know where you're going and make plans for it. And once you've done that, never, ever quit. If you have to, if it's required or necessary, then you can pivot. But never ever quit.
I’m going to have more fun too. I'm going to go back to cruising, I had a pretty bad thing that happened to me along about 2009. But I'm coming out of it. And I will be cruising again, which I love. And I certainly always want to keep on climbing and going to new countries. I have a little plan to visit and learn from every country in the world before I die. Well, may not make it, but I'm certainly going to continue working toward it.
Simple practices & final thoughts
“I think I would say the same thing I said to you, the most important thing is know where you're going and don't ever stop.
I think you have to decide what's important to you. Choose one or two things. Don't go and say you're going to change your whole life overnight, you won't. But try to choose something that you like to do. I get up every morning, and the first thing I do is I climb the mountain behind my house. And I do that and I almost never miss. I swim at night, if you have a chance to do that. Those are both great things. What I'm saying to people is find something you like to do. It's good to get advice from a trainer or a doctor, but find something that you will want to do. Choose something that you can do.
And another thing I would say to people, if you do miss once, don't beat yourself up. Just say to yourself, tomorrow is another day, I will do it tomorrow. And that way you can keep going. And so again, those are the things: Choose what you want to do, but get some professional advice if you need it. And do it, just do it. And if you do fail once again, forgive yourself and go off.
I would like to remind people that giving does your whole self good. Your mind, your body, your spirit, there are actual measurable effects that you have from helping. When you go to creatingexcitingfutures.org, there is a chance to donate there to help these kids and chances to volunteer as well, which again is another way of keeping yourself involved and seeing things happen that could change the whole world in time. So I encourage you to give these kids a hand up. And I'm sure you'll be glad you did.”
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