Get Outdoors with Anitra

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 0 (that’s right, Chapter 0)

During my formative years I felt a strong need to conform.  I felt like I had to live up to other people’s perception of what I should do and how I should act.  I felt incredible pressure to act like a perfect role model since I worked with kids.  I wasn’t having fun.  I didn’t like my life.  But I lived it, because that’s what you are supposed to do.  That’s how I was supposed to act. 

Then I saw the light.  I remembered this idea I had for the first time my senior year of college.  I remembered about the Appalachian Trail.  The Appalachian Trail (AT) is a National Scenic Trail as established by an act of Congress.  It runs about 2,174 miles from Georgia to Maine.  I had heard about people hiking it.  They hike it end to end and I wanted to do give it a try.  I read everything I could about it; I read memoirs and planned out schedules.  It was my escape from an existence that was missing something, an existence that had begun to make me fairly miserable.  I had to go do this, I had to go hike.  The urgency was building; the only comparison I can possibly use to describe the feeling is the pounding, the hauntingly vivid, constant reminder of the tell-tale heart.  In my case, the need for change, the need for adventure was pounding in my heart.  I could hear it and feel it with every inch of my body.  I had to get out there. 

The AT was an interesting experience.  I learned a lot.  I learned a lot about me.  It was 6 months with a steep learning curve.  I found a boyfriend, I found a new hobby, and I discovered who I really am.  After the trail, I learned more about me.  I had my heart broken by said boyfriend and focused on my new hobby; at least I still had that right!  This time I focused on the Pacific Crest Trail.  The Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) is a 2,655 mile National Scenic Trail, also designated by an act of Congress, which runs from the California-Mexico border to the Washington-Canada border.  It is a well maintained trail that highlights much of America’s western beauty. 

So that brings us up to now, saving again for the next adventure. Once again here I am, shirking my American obligations to keep up with the Jones’ and to consume as much as I can and work long hours to do so.  I work hard, so I can play hard.  I like to play hard for 5 or 6 months.  But when I do work, I want it to be enjoyable and rewarding.  Is that so criminal?  I know, I know, I can hear you saying it even as I type this “this girl wants her cake and she wants to eat it too”.  But really, think about it…is that too much for a girl to ask? 

This leads me into my premise, the underlying idea that governs what I do and why I work hard and why I play hard and why I hike for days, weeks and months at a time.  My dad told me this once.  He stole it from someone else but he didn’t know who.  We’ll now I’m borrowing it (if you know who said it, please let me know so I can give them credit, it’s been life changing).  “The reason most people fail, instead of succeed, is that they sacrifice what they want most for what they want at the moment.”