I am often asked why I climb mountains. No, it isn’t because it is there. It is more of a spiritual journey for me… it is something between me and Mother Nature… The mountain itself is incidental. It could just well be the stairs to my sixth floor office that I climb everyday. Patience, persistence, physical stamina is tested to the max each time. Meeting the challenge is what it is all about.

So as I turned 81 last month, I planned to climb Mt. Kinabalu in Sabah, Borneo, the 20th highest mountain in the world at over 13,000 feet. And I did it the other week. Together with 23 other men and women of the Lopez family, Lopez Group, and the First Philippine Mt. Everest Team, it took us five grueling days on the trail, and about seven hours daily to make it.

To hear more about it, you may want to get the latest copy of the Lopez Link The only lesson I can impart after every mountain I have climbed is that it’s never too late to try something new. And it’s especially never too late to start to focus on one’s own health. If I can climb Southeast Asia’s highest mountain at 81, I’m certain you can also succeed at anything you set your mind to do.

Before I forget, I would like to remind and encourage everyone to share “what you do for your community” – It can be as simple as participating in clean up drives, to actually organizing a fund raiser for a charity group. Whatever good you are currently doing to give back, I would really love to hear. The one who shares the most inspiring and meaningful initiative will get a microwave oven and your chosen charity will be given an ADTEL Solar Kit! The second and third prize winner will receive an ADTEL Barron 21-inch and 14-inch TV sets.