Last weekend, I summited a 12,324 ft. mountain. It was Heaven. I mean, I was hiking at elevation, and I felt like I was dying, so... Also, it was amazing. Also, it was beautiful. Also, it was so much fun, such a challenge, and included hours of giggling and soul-feeding conversation with two dear friends.
The night before, I couldn’t sleep because I was too excited. I went to bed late because i was packing my bag and making preparations for the hike. Gotta have the 10 Essentials, Em. (What ARE the 10 Essentials again?) You should make some of those protein balls you saw on Pinterest. They’ll give you the energy and nutrition you’ll need to get through that hike!
All of a sudden, it was 11:30. I wasn’t in bed yet, and I had to be awake by 5am.
Get to bed, Em. If you go to sleep right now, you’ll be able to get 5 ½ hours of sleep.
Okay. Going to sleep now. Good night, world! See you on a beautiful, amazing, gorgeous mountain top in the morning! I’m so glad Jen and Tara can come with me tomorrow. They’re the best. Oh. I’ve missed hiking so much. This is just going to be the best day. I love Rocky Mountain National Park. It is just so stinkin beautiful there! Hiking is so awesome. I can’t believe God made all of that beauty for us.
Hiking is also very taxing, and you need to have a good night’s sleep before you hike a big mountain like that.
Right. Good point. Will stop being so excited about hiking and will go to sleep right now and get 5 hours of solid sleep. I know I packed everything, so I could wake up a half hour later and still get 5 ½ hours of sleep. I will reset the alarm… Wait… Maybe I didn’t pack everything. Better give myself 15 minutes to double check. 5 ¼ hours. That’s enough. Think calm, soothing thoughts.
I am not going to be well-rested enough. Ugh. I’m going to wake up tired, and this is going to be a tough hike. It’s fine. I’m going to get 5 hours of sleep. Oh no. I can’t sleep.
It’s okay. Calm, Soothing thoughts. Gosh, my kids were funny today. I’m so glad my hubby is cool with me hiking. Figuring out when I could make this happen was tough enough. He is such a good dad. I wish he would be the Stay At Home Parent. He’s so much better at all of the Stay At Home Stuff. I am the worst Stay At Home Mom ever. I am horrible at cleaning, decorating, shopping…. I am so much less patient with the kids than he is… Why do I yell like that? I’ve probably scarred the children for life. Yes. I’m sure of it. I am a horrible, horrible person and parent. I am the worst, and my children are messed up beyond all repair because I am such a terrible screaming, yelling monster.
Well, that escalated quickly. I went from excited to be on a mountaintop to the worst person in the world.
Good thing I’m going on this hike tomorrow. That will be soothing. I’ll be a better person after tomorrow. Crap. Not if I don’t get any sleep, I won’t. Ugh. It’s only going to be 4 hours of sleep now...
You see, summiting a mountain is just like accomplishing any other goal in life.
- You put it on the calendar and don’t let anyone deter you from your plans. It’s on the calendar. It’s a priority.
- You prepare yourself by gathering the supplies, knowledge, and skills you’ll need.
- You wake up early.
- You take a step.
- You take more steps.
- It gets hard. Like really hard. So you rest.
- You take more steps.
- It gets too hard to continue again, so you rest again.
- You take more steps.
- You repeat this until you reach your goal.
Basically, make it a priority, prepare, wake up early, and start walking. Keep walking until you’re finished.
It’s not complicated, but it is most certainly difficult, and in everyday life, I struggle during each part of this process.
But my point is…
It’s just a mountain.
It’s just a goal. It's doable. Whatever it is that you are striving for, it’s just a mountain. And you're doing it because you want to. You love this dream. You want to spend time dong this thang. Even if you need friends to give you a push...Make it a priority, prepare, wake up early, and start walking. Keep walking until you’re finished. The hardest part is getting out of my own way with my worries and fears.
The hardest part is keeping it what it is, because I'm really great at turning it into something it's not.
I just schedule it, plan, wake up, and start taking steps. It gets hard when I tell myself how hard it is. It gets hard when I worry and beat myself up.
But when I do the work and look around, I think, God did this for me? What an amazing world we live in. There is so much beauty and joy in this place. I am so small. I am so brave. I am so powerful. I am so capable. I am so glad I live in Colorado. (I guess you could think something like, “I’m so grateful for what I have” if you don’t live in the same amazing place I do…)
I guess I just need to live my life being able to sleep at night, because if I can do that, I can certainly wake up and climb mountains.
