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Remaining in the Present While Achieving My Goals
During my first week on the trail, my New Year’s goals have presented themselves at some point each day while walking. At the beginning of the year, there were three things that I wanted to work on to better myself. These three tasks were things that I had felt I had lacked in during the previous year and, before you ask, no, I didn’t want to lose 25 pounds, and no, I didn’t want to go to the gym five days a week. I told myself that I wanted to me more patient, trusting, and mindful.
Patience
Patience seems to be the most loud and resounding of the three. When I find myself wanting to go faster and farther, I have to remember that this journey to Canada is not a sprint. I’ve found that slowly ramping up to longer days means I spend less time in town due to physical burnout and more time out on the trail doing what I came here to do in the first place. I’m a little more than a week into a journey that could span five total months.
Trusting
Already I have become part of an amazing group of people that I have found myself hiking with day in and day out. Some of these people I knew before, and others have developed into new and amazing friends. One thing I need to remember is to trust these people. They are my family out here. My support group should things go wrong in the woods. Letting my guard down and inviting these people into my life feels like an important and necessary step in order for me to successfully complete this hike.
Mindful
Even in the first week on this new trail, I’ve met people that I would have never met back in Texas. Combine that with the fact that every day out on the adventure is a completely new experience and the need to be mindful becomes increasingly more important. Mindful of others’ situations. Mindful of my surroundings. Mindful of remaining in the present and enjoying every minute I have on this trail.
My first week on the trail has completely blown every expectation I had out of the water, and I can’t wait to share other experiences and thoughts later on down the road. Ta ta for now.
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