This was the most challenging thing ive endourred in recent memory- hiking up mount LeConte in the smokey mountains . I was excited to be invited on the trip but i was highly unaware of the challenge it would present to my mind, body, and spirit. Crazy thing is we chose the shortest trail to the top, 5.5miles; there were other trails as long as 11miles, but 5.5mile was enough for my first hike. Apart from the landscape, everything sucked about the acent-imagine going up a sharp incline in hopes of the land being flat afterward and being met with another sharp incline..just one after another. Never quite feeling like the end is near. My mind went to a dark place a few times, i primarily thought about 1 person, which was pretty painful but worked out to be enlighting. I couldn’t help but to think of my experience as a metaphor -if i want to grow, be a better person, be around better people, be my best self..im going to have to struggle through a process that will require consistent effort. Changing for the better is hard-between battling with yourself, encouraging yourself to gain new perspectives, stepping out of your comfort zone, developing healthy habits, pouring love into yourself, the list goes on, all of these things present challenges if you want lasting results. There were several times i wanted to just stop; my bag felt heavy as hell(30lbs or so), i was in emotional turmoil, felt like we were never going to reach the top…but then id look back and see how far weve come. And Youd think my getting to the top would be a relief..nope..this shit was just getting started.
