Excitement and the Possibility of Life: Otherwise Known as Leaving for the AT

In just a few hours from now, I will live out my childhood dream. How can I possibly explain all the emotions I’m experiencing as I pack away my prior life and take on a new one? On my back, I now carry every last thing I need to survive. I wont carry keys. I wont wear jeans. No Netflix for me & I’m sorry Game of Thrones – I won’t be keeping up. I now wear crocs and socks…together?! You read that right.

I will also get to LIVE my dream. I think deep down.. every last one of us still carry those youthful dreams… of doing big things, exciting things. Yet life has a way of catching up. It makes way for new dreams, grown up dreams of adulthood success in work and love. But every now and then, we all slip up. We remember being four feet tall, wanting to be a baseball player, astronaut, or fireman. For me, that dream was this trail. As I sit here looking at this dirty old suitcase, full of shiny new gear –(I KNOW its not over the weight limit SouthWest – don’t even try it;) – I can only think about how lucky I truly am. “I get to live my dream?!” I find myself saying this again and again. So many great things have already happened and I’ve yet to see a White Blaze. I can’t even imagine what other greatness lies just around the corner. There will be many days of hardship and struggle but today is a day of love and celebration. Today.. is about the possibility of life. I CHOOSE to believe anything is possible. I mean.. hey..I made it this far..why stop now?

“Our truest life is when we are in dreams awake.” – Henry David Thoreau

“It’s the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting…” -Paulo Coelho