Coincidence? Nah! Destiny!

My Bipolar Journey

I don’t believe in coincidence.

I’m sadly misinformed about a lot of things, mainly because my bipolar disorder distracts me, tells me lies, and keeps my mind moving at such a breakneck speed that focusing on one thing is impossible.

Karma, destiny, divine intervention, whatever you want to call it, I firmly believe that everything happens for a reason. 

When I first decided to hike the AT, my main goal was to top what I accomplished on my 40th birthday in a big way. I was going to start a NOBO on May 23! I never would have made Katahdin before Baxter closed for the year. So I decided that I would just have to be content starting in March and not knowing where I would spend my 45th birthday. Well…

Due to financial constraints I made the decision to change from a traditional NOBO to instead hike a flip-flop. THEN I found out about Trail Days in May, making my dream of starting on my birthday more of a possibility. THEN I found out about hikeformentalheath.org and decided to fully commit to raising funds and awareness for mental health. THEN I discovered that the actor whose character I named my son after also struggled with mental health issues and the stigma surrounding it. (Shout-out to Wil Wheaton and my baby boy, Wesley) 

Today I started doing some research on mental health awareness color and month. You mean to tell me that not only do I get to start my hike at a great festival on or very near my birthday and I get to raise funds and awareness for a cause that affects one in four Americans, but I also get to begin this journey in mental health awareness month?!? 

Every now and again, when you’re alone and lost in the dark, everything else disappears and your path becomes clear. 

I hike for myself. I hike for others. I hike for mental health.