We Salute You.

So you’ve just enlisted in "The Army of Change", and you’re setting your sights on climbing Mount Washington with us on July 31, 2010.

The Regulars salute you!

This is going to be an amazing event. Looking ahead into the future to the actual day I see you all coming from places all over the United States and some from other countries. There on Mount Washington, for the first time anywhere you will see advocates of both Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease come together in the most sincere act of genuine solidarity for each other’s hopes and struggles with these diseases. While we will each come to the battle field armed with passion, determination and drive to raise awareness and funds for the issue which impacts us directly, we also know that it is important to encourage our old and new found friends in "The Army of Change" to try their hardest to succeed as well.

Why is it important to support and encourage those advocates of Alzheimer’s Disease if you are impacted by Parkinson’s Disease? Why is it equally as important to support and encourage those advocates of Parkinson’s Disease if you are impacted by Alzheimer’s Disease? Because in the collective battle to conquer these neurodegenerative diseases we believe that when one is cured the others could very well fall behind it like dominoes.

Here in "The Army of Change" we believe in each other.
We believe that "Together Is ONE".
We believe that in the conquest of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease, we were born to end this.

There are many challenges which lie before us in our push to succeed as an advocate in "The Army of Change". Some are apparent and other’s are not so apparent. Some people will find that they are good at accomplishing some of the tasks presented to them and struggle with other tasks. Our differences are what makes us whole. It is in our collective strengths that we will learn from the others who stand shoulder to shoulder with us in the battles to conquer these diseases.

Mistakes will be made. Forgive yourself and forgive the others on your teams.

Personal victories will be experienced as well. Be proud of your accomplishments and congratulate those on your teams who also do well.

There will be times when you are presented with a task, and you simply do not know what to do next. You will find a way to make it happen. Do not stand still struck by fear or apprehension. Think hard and be creative. There is no right or wrong way to do any of this, so trust your instincts and move ahead. After consulting your conscious, if you still feel that you are not quite sure about what the next best move may be...ask for help. There are plenty of other advocates around you on Facebook or MySpace or even among your friends and relatives at home, who have more than likely taken part in an awareness / fund raising event in the past. They have experience and just may be able to help you. Keep in mind, just by deciding to enlist in "The Army of Change" Mount Washington project you have already demonstrated initiative and leadership qualities. Put them to good use, exercise them, and sharpen your skills by first trying your hand at problem solving before consulting with others around you. I believe you can do anything, make us proud!

You should be willing to use any means possible to help raise awareness. Don’t be shy about reaching out to family, friends and strangers alike to support your cause with donations to your charity. Believe it or not it is not unusual to ask "the same" people two or three times over the course of the weeks or months before your event. The reason this is done is because someone may not have the extra funds to make a donations this week or this month, but things may be better for them next week or next month. Ask again, it won’t hurt. Determination and persistence just may get you the donation you’ve been trying so hard to capture from them. Go ahead challenge yourself. With this being said...it is best for you to create your fund raising pages very soon and begin fund raising right away, so to give yourselves the most time to do your absolute best. Here is the link to choose your charity: http://www.thearmyofchange.com/aoc_004.htm

You will experience a roller coaster of emotions between this very moment where you now find yourself sitting in front of your computer screen and the moment in time when you climb Mount Washington. You’ll feel happiness, sadness, excitement, confusion, anxiety, peacefulness, pride, frustration, love, despair, accomplishment and more. Be encouraged by the fact that what you are doing for the cause is a good thing. Keep in mind that good things do not always come easily. You may have to work hard. Set fund raising goals for yourself which are slightly more than you feel you could easily reach, and then push yourself to the limits in order to reach that goal. You may find that you’ll shatter it and raise far more than you expected. If you and your team fall short, don’t let it bother you. If you’ve honestly tried your hardest to succeed then you’ve done enough to make us all proud of you.

Never give up.
Finding a cure for Alzheimer’s & Parkinson’s Disease is far too important to ever give up.

Over the next few months I will try to guide you along the path to success as an advocate. Check back to this blog site weekly for updates. Together we will conquer Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease. After all, we were born to end this.

World up,
Enzo

For those of you who have not yet enlisted, please go to our website choose a cause and sign up! Here is the link for you to visit our site.
http://www.thearmyofchange.com/

Also for a little background on the Regulars and the 10 Mountains 10 Years (A Quest for the Cure) project from which "The Army of Change" was developed, visit our main website.
http://www.theregulars.org/

Riddle of the Snow

You're heart is beating out of your chest, and you scan the horizon for a sign. Inside your black hood the heat bellows from the crease in your shirt and turns to steam as it hits the cold air. If anyone where there to watch, you'd look like a man of fire. Your face is red and streaked with the skid marks of crystalline snow which hums and cuts as it streams past your frosted and squinting eyes into the ravine below. The sun is burning at the fringe of the horizon, but your world is still shrouded in the darkness of night. Or maybe the sun has already risen and you're too blind to know.

Why am I here?

What brought me here?

Where was I going before all of this?

What am I looking for?

The snow says nothing. The wind says nothing. The stone says nothing, and still I have traveled half the world to ask the questions and listen for the answers. It might be said that the edge is a fine line between what is genius and what is crazy. I've been cut by it many times, but I have never fallen.

Maybe the sign is not on the horizon, rising with the light of a new day.

Maybe it's on the inside, and the blind could see it all along.-

- VRS

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Q6nKP10j4s