Life Lessons Learned Backpacking: Book Excerpt, Chapter 1
I have been writing a short book about life lessons I’ve learned from backpacking. I have also given slideshow presentations on my lessons to middle school students. I thought I would take excerpts from my “book” (I use that term very loosely) and post them here since, this is a blog about the outdoors. So with out further ado here is the excerpt from…
Chapter 1, Lesson 1
Throughout life, I’ve always had this secret fear of letting people down. Sometimes that’s not a bad thing. It makes me accountable to those people. Sometimes it’s a really bad thing and I put my dreams and goals on hold to make sure that I don’t let someone else down.
I had one of those “a-ha moments”. An epiphany if you will. I realized that I had to set some goals, dream some dreams. They needed to be realistic but grandiose at the same time. It can be a difficult line to walk but I needed to be toeing the line.
The goal had to be lofty, worthwhile, something that I really felt passionate about doing. My goal was hiking. I wanted to be out there having an experience and by the time I finished the AT (and my now ex-boyfriend had finished breaking my heart), I knew my goal was to hike the PCT from Mexico to Canada. Now, walking even a few hundred miles is a pretty large undertaking but hiking a few thousand. That’s a pretty massive task. However, it was reasonable; I mean other people had done it so why not me?
So here is lesson number one: “Don’t be afraid to dream big.” In fact, you have my blessing, permission and my plea. DREAM BIG! Do it, give it a try. See how it feels. Do you feel empowered? Do you feel relieved to have finally allowed yourself the opportunity to let your mind wander? Go on, let your mind wander. Let it unlock your secret desires, goals and dreams. It can be a moment of clarity for some. For others, allowing their mind to dream big is a moment of catharsis. Whatever it ends up being for you, you must do it. How else are you going to know what “the thing you want most” is?
