Welcome to the first post of the Be Audacious (BA) blog. It’s been months in the works and I couldn’t be more excited to launch my next big project at www.BeAudacious.com
If you’ve ever dreamt of finding the audacity to throw off the shackles of our societal norms, yearned to pursue your deepest passions in order to harness your greatest potential, or sat in reverie in hopes of uncovering a more meaningful and soulful journey, then you have found your movement: Be Audacious.
Sharing audacious stories and essays of people, place, love and adventure, the BA Blog will feature guest columnists and will inspire readers to Be Audacious in our quest to leave a legacy and live a life that matters.
For the last decade, like many of you, I’ve worn a wide variety of hats in my pursuit to find meaningful, thoughtful and fulfilling work. This constant quest to become comfortable in my own skin while striving to make a difference in my community has become an obsession of sorts and has led me down raging rapids, to towering mountain summits, through vast deserts, and into the heart of diverse and wild environments—both physically and metaphysically.
I’ve had the privilege and honor to don the green and gray for seven years as a ranger naturalist and bear education ranger in Yellowstone National Park, sharing my passion for wildness with visitors from all over the globe. I’ve experienced the pitfalls, joys and heartache of a philanthropeneur as the founder and executive director of a grassroots nonprofit organization working on the ground in the rural communities north of Yellowstone, with the mission of inspiring a commitment to one of our planet’s most important and iconic ecosystems through motivating the next generation of Yellowstone guardians. I’ve shared the tremendous highs and emotional lows of a high school basketball coach in the small Class C town of Gardiner, Montana, where I fully recognized Nelson Mandela’s belief that there is unmatched power in sport, learning that successful teams transcend the sport they play, and become a bond of brothers and sisters with limitless potential. I’ve hiked, rowed and backpacked clients from around the globe in a quest for a wild encounter and a more meaningful existence. And I’ve traveled the country, sharing my Be Audacious message as a motivational and environmental speaker, in hopes of fulfilling my personal mission of positively impacting the world around me.
As we will explore in later essays, the challenging nature of change, uncertainty and fear all too often limit our potential and keep us from fulfilling our wildest ambitions. Baring all, journeying from the depths of despair to a more empowered sense of self, I now embark upon the next chapter of my personal and professional odyssey and look forward to sharing with you the inspiring stories of the people, places, adventures, loves and struggles that inspire my personal journey and the growing team of audacious individuals who are joining the movement to Be Audacious.
“Be Audacious” is more than a message, it is way of living that can define who we are as individuals and ultimately, as a species. It is part of our nature to be audacious, which helps fuel our curiosity to explore, discover, and grow. Audacious individuals drive developments in science, technology, medicine, engineering, agriculture, and environmental conservation—for starters! There is an audacious individual in each of us, whether we realize it our not. It is an ember burning within, which, once awakened, can inspire endless possibilities for living a bold and daring life of nonconformity. My goal is to uncover the passion within all of us to improve our personal lives, enhance our communities and nurture our environment. By “Being Audacious” we transform ourselves and the world around us, enabling us to live adventurous, sustainable and meaningful lives.
This site will serve as a platform for those seeking nonconventional ideas, motivation and understanding, in an effort to inspire people to pursue their passion, live a life that matters and change the world…
With Nothin’ But Love,
Mike aka Rev