Inspire Possibility Show, October 1, 2017
Inspire Possibility Show with Mark Susnow
"4Wheel Bob blazes a trail."
Bob Coomber is the first person in a wheelchair to reach the summit of White Mountain, California's third-highest peat at over 14,000 feet. He was recognzied by the George W. Bust administration with a President's Council on Physical Fitness Community leadership award in 2008.
Bob Coomber estimates he has logged thousands of miles wheelchair hiking around California. His attempts to cross the Kearsarge Pass in the Sierra Nevada were documented by local filmmaker Tal Skloot.
From the time he was in his twenties, he was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes which causes bone density issues. From that point on, he was wheelchair bound.
Coomber, now 62, began rehabbing from the injury with the help of doctors. He worked through physical therapy, progressing from crutches to a cane. "The day they told me, 'Yes you can now go to a cane and graduate,' I broke both ankles just from bearing weight -- that's the way my bones were going," Coomber recalled during a recent interview in Livermore. By the early 1990s, Coomber was in a wheelchair.
Suddenly he was faced with figuring out how to adapt to living with limited mobility.
"One of the things I thought about as I was in bed was, 'What am I going to do to get out and see these places I'm used to seeing?'" Coomber said.
Transitioning to hiking in a wheelchair, Coomber soon realized, meant making some major adjustments. That involved doing overnight excursions that would be day trips for walkers and taking packing into account.
"It was difficult," Coomber said. "After years of getting your legs in shape and your back in shape to carry stuff, you're now worried about your shoulders and your elbows and making sure everything's strong enough so when you come down a hill you can actually stop the chair."
Inspire Possibility Show
Genesis
I am naturally curious—curious about how i can make my experience of life more fulfilling and more interesting which has led me down many roads. New destinations, new realities, some amazing people—masters of their game—all preparing me for this moment.
We’ve heard the adage that we teach what we want to learn. I wondered if there were possibilities in my life that I wasn’t yet exploring. With that in mind at the turn of the new millennium I made a leap of faith…from successful trial lawyer to life coach and strategist and InspirePossibility.com was created. That was 19 years ago.
The Inspire Possibility Show was the next step. Each week I have conversations with various cutting-edge thought leaders who inspire, enlighten and entertain us. They inspire us to get out of our comfort zones and to explore possibilities that are out there waiting for us. I invite you to join in.
A Few More Things More About Me.
Being a musician has been and still is a lifelong exploration. Being the author of Dancing on the River: Navigating Life’s Changes and the Soul of Uncertainty, A Fable for our Times, has inspired me to look deeper. Playing sports, since I’ve been a kid has been a mainstay of my life. Through it all being a dad has been most fulfilling.
"Mark's coaching, presence and spirit, helps him give others a gentle nudge (and sometimes hard push) toward whatever their future path may hold. As a friend, mentor and spiritual guide, Mark has helped me, quite simply, start to do something that resonates with my soul and spirit."
– Warren J. Strudwick, Jr. M.D., - Team Physician, Oakland Raiders
"Intuitive and insightful, Mark worked with me to discover sustainable strategies in overcoming self-limiting behaviors that had become a norm in both my business and personal life."
– Danika Davis, PHR, - CEO - Northern California HR Association
"Success doesn't have to be a struggle. Mark knows how to bring out superior performance in his clients. He is masterful."
– Raz Ingrasci, - President of the Hoffman Institute
"Mark's recent presentation to the Commonwealth Club inspired our members to see the changes in their lives as opportunities and possibilities rather than as something to avoid."
– George Hammond, Chair — Humanities Forum, Commonwealth Club of California
"Mark's recent communication program to our Peernet Organization of all CEO’s taught us the power of communication and how it can positively transform the dynamics of our organizations."
– Jay Nathanson, Chairman, Peernet Group
