Patrick Sheehan

Asheville, NC

I grew up in horse country Kentucky, dreaming of getting out of high school so I could go explore what the world has to offer. Thankfully, I got the opportunity to move to Asheville, North Carolina giving me the chance to push my whitewater kayaking to the highest degree possible for me. The Southeast is my favorite place because of the variation, there are few other places in America that you can paddle year-round, mountain bike, ski, snorkel, and anything that you can dream up!

Presented with the question of what does Give’r mean to me, it made me look deeper into what’s inside my brain. What pushes me to paddle class V, risking my life in the process. Could it be the adrenaline, the connection with something more powerful than myself, it’s neither of those. It gives me purpose and an escape from reality for a few hours. Give’r to me means to find your escape from reality and put all your energy into that because those are the things that truly affect and change your life. Give everything to your dreams even if that isn’t what helps you monetarily because at the end of your life you won’t be happy having worked to make an extra $5,000 dollars a year. You’ll be happy looking back at the incredible life you lived.

So, that is how I choose to live my life, every single day I wake up thinking, “What can I do to make this day memorable and have the most meaning when I’m old and frail.” Whether that day involves kayaking, hiking, photography, mountain biking, it doesn’t matter, the goal is to be happy at the end of the day. I’m proud to say that a majority of the 365 days in the year I am successful, and I dream that someday it can be every, single one.