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Pierce inspires by overcoming adversity

By Hannah LaClaire - Staff Writer | Dec 8, 2017

NASHUA – Randy Pierce’s guide dog, Autumn, was the only one who snoozed through the presentation at Nashua High School South Thursday night. The rest of the audience sat in rapt attention as Pierce discussed living with a disability, achieving goals and the power of purpose.

Pierce, who lost his sight due to a neurological disorder at 22 is the president of 2020 Vision Quest, a hiker, a marathoner, an author, a motivational speaker and philanthropist among other accomplishments.

Although he was devastated when he first lost his sight, he said that now he believes it is the best thing that could have happened to him.

He spoke to a group of parents and educators at Nashua South, his own high school, as a speaker for the Nashua Parent Outreach Group and special education administrative team.

“I want to share a little vision with you, ironically I guess … on how to achieve a goal,” he said.

In the next hour and 15 minutes, Pierce took the audience through his own experiences with loss, goal setting and perseverance, both Pierce and the audience at times getting emotional.

“It’s not believe and achieve,” he said. “It’s not believe it and poof you’re done. It’s problem solving and persevering.”

After years of struggling, he said at one point he decided that he was tired of getting knocked down. So he stopped seeing it that way.

“As soon as I started changing my attitude, my approach, a world of opportunity opened up,” he said.

“I believe had I never gone blind, I would have been a successful person. But I have become more driven thanks to going blind.”

Pierce is the only person to have hiked all 48 peaks in the state, and he’s done it twice, once in the winter and once in the summer. He ran four marathons in 2014 alone. He completed two Tough Mudder competitions. He was invited to the White House to meet the president. He keeps an eye on technology and gets excited about what might be available to him in the next few years.

Sometimes it’s still hard, he said, but on those hard days he liked to set small, attainable goals that can bring him joy, like making a French press cup of coffee.

“Fill yourself with ways to lift yourself up when you need it,” he said.

Everyone has challenges, and, he admitted, some are definitely harder than others. But it is how people use those challenges and how they conquer them that is important.

Pierce said there are three and a half reasons to set goals.

The first, is because with setting a goal, you are more likely to get something that you want.

The second, the more you work at reaching goals, the better you are at it.

Third, the more you reach your goals, the easier it is to take adversity in stride.

The last and half reason, he said, is the magic that happens along the way, the things that you don’t expect to happen.

Take the time to plan for your goals, he said. “Plan to fail, not fail to plan.”

He said sometimes he fails, like when he was not able to finish a marathon, or when, shortly after he lost his vision, he could not even correctly put toothpaste on his toothbrush.

However, he found ways to accept that and work to improve.

“I got comfortable with my disability,” he said. “I have a disability, there’s something I can’t do. I can’t see. But I celebrate ability.”

After he finished his presentation, which include visual aids for his sighted audience, he opened the floor for a question and answer session.

Questions ranged from how blind people dream (it’s different for everyone), how he navigates while hiking (his guide dog and paying attention to his other senses), to how to help other people with disabilities who are angry and hiding.

“I try to find a connection point … and I try to go from there,” he said. “You can’t reach everybody, but you can always try.”

“It’s your choice, but you can experience wonderful things. I’ll help you make that choice, I’ll help you find the tools, because they’re there,” he said as of what he might tell someone. But everyone goes through that experience differently, he said.

Before closing the evening, Pierce took a moment to speak directly to the audience as people who are guiding and helping someone with a disability.

“I hope some of the things that I’ve shared have helped you … but will also help whoever you might be guiding to look at the world differently,” he said.

He stressed the importance of “choosing the right response” to adversity.

“The choice we make in our life is what will define our life more than any challenge ever could,” he said.

“Momentum can let us start going in the direction we want and goals are the key to momentum.”

Hannah LaClaire can be reached at 594-1243 or hlaclaire@nashua

telegraph.com

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