To Hike or Not to Hike?

I just went on a hike this last week in South Dakota. My friends are all experienced hikers, backpackers, outdoor campers, tent sleepers, don’t need to shower for days, ready for an adventure at any moment people, and I am a novice. I love the outdoors but have not had all the experiences they have had, and not sure I want too!

We had planned to hike on Friday in South Dakota, and they kept saying it is a 7-mile hike. A loop! And every time they said it, inside I went, “I don’t think I can do 7 miles, and I don’t know if I want to!”

I felt scared; my body was not prepared for this excursion, and I even told another hiker, “If you decided to stop, I might go back with you!”

We hiked to our first stop, Little Devils Tower, and it was so hard. The sun was hot! The grade was so steep for so long with no relief, but we did it 2 miles uphill all the way.

From this spot, we could turn around and do 2 miles back and call it a day, a 4-mile hike with an amazing view, feel accomplished, and maybe not hurt AS much, or we could continue. To continue meant another 5 miles!

I wasn’t sure I could do it. But I also did not want to miss an opportunity of a lifetime. When would I ever be back here again? So I went.

The next three miles to the highest point in South Dakota were a bit easier than the first two because there were some stretches that were flat, versus all uphill. But what was supposed to be a 7-mile hike turned out to be 8.5 miles!!

My feet hurt, my arches hurt, my calves hurt, my hamstrings hurt, and my lower back hurt. It hurt!

It was so HARD.

And it was SOOOOO fulfilling.

After you accomplish something like that, there is such great satisfaction. While you are hiking and moving your body, there is no time to be sad, depressed, anxious about tomorrow, or unnecessarily worried about your life. It is just one step in front of the other, grinding it out, to accomplish the goal set before you.

As we hiked, we celebrated each other, we made friends with all the strangers on the trail, we took in the breathtaking beauty around every curve, and admired the crisp fresh air, the sunshine, and the marvelous creation before us.

As you connect with nature, you feel what every human needs to be able to be happy in life, and that is DEEP satisfaction.

One of the sneaky cycles that causes us so much grief in our lives is never being able to be satisfied. Never being able to FEEL satisfied.

Can you think of the last time you were satisfied?

Arthur C. Brooks is a Professor at the Harvard Business School, and he teaches the most sought-after course at Harvard. There are waiting lists and lines to take his course on “Happiness.”

In this course, he teaches about happiness based on research from a long study that followed a large group of people’s lives to discover the key to a good life.

Brooks teaches about 3 Macro-Nutrients that have been discovered to achieve happiness in life, which are:

1. Enjoyment

2. Satisfaction

3. Meaning

These nutrients, when activated in your life, will produce happiness.

The nutrient of Enjoyment interacts with our memories and brings us out of survival mode.

This is an experience beyond pleasure. Pleasure is a place in the brain that is only good for survival or the passing on of your genes. Enjoyment brings us out of the primitive parts of our brain and creates SPACE to experience fun, warmth, and contentment.

Next, Satisfaction is the JOY you get after you STRUGGLE for something.

The last Macro-Nutrient is Meaning. Meaning comes from being PART of something bigger and greater than YOU!

In the struggle up the mountain, we felt it.

Happiness.

We felt enjoyment as we connected with each other and nature. And as we experienced fun, laughter, warmth, and contentment in being in the moment together.

We felt Joy and the deepest satisfaction that only comes when you work really, really hard for something.

And we were confronted with Meaning.

As you look at the grand landscape, as you take in The Devils Tower, which has NO explanation, as you look at the Cathedral Spires, and climb to the top of lookout tower. When you see how small we are and how vast this world is, you see there is something so much greater! I am so small, this world is so big, and it continues to support me, provide for me, and nourish me.

We felt like we were part of something as we encouraged each other, grew deeper in our relationships with one another, and conquered this BIG obstacle together

What a gift.

This is what I want for you, my dear, if you are faced with the question, “To Hike or Not to Hike?” YOU HIKE!

When life presents itself to you, and it is scary, and you don’t think you can do it, and you want to quit, and you are not sure you are smart enough, in shape enough, prepared enough, talented enough, ready enough, you GO! You try! You do it!

It’s going to hurt! Really bad! But you need to say, “Yes”. You need to take the next scary step.

If life is really hard right now, it needs to be; we need it. We need the hard, my dear. We need the struggle. A life that is too easy and too soft will literally bore you to death. Don’t allow the mirage of comfort and a pain-free existence steal from you.

No, my Dear, your body, your mind, and your soul need the struggle. We need the hard to produce what we truly want in our lives.

You’ve got this; we’ve got this! It is one step up the mountain together. One step for our lives, one step for our health and one step for your heart. One big, scary, shaky, step for your soul to find the deepest satisfaction, joy, meaning, and enjoyment life has to offer.

From My Heart To Yours,

P.S.

When I told my “expert” friends that I was scared and wanted to quit and didn’t think I could do the 2nd part of the hike. The man in the group said “You go through that every time you do a long hike. Every time you say, “Ahh maybe that’s enough, maybe we just turn back now, maybe I am pleased with this far.” And you have to make the decision do I turn back or keep going. Every time.” WOW- maybe I am just normal! Even the experts want to quit!