Date: 2008-01-12
To: Hike Your Own Hike
Miles today: 0.0

No Photo today. Today I thought I would simply print up some lyrics to my song of the day. As for posts, well, I may have more than usual before I start hiking this year, but hey this is for me, not you, I just let you take a peek into the craziness that exists in my head. I haven't talked about this on here but recently I almost lost my teaching job due to the desire of some to pass the buck and hang me out to dry because an administrator didn't do her job and so I made a mistake because of it. As a result being at the bottom of the hill, well shit rolls down hill, you get the point. Luckily, my principal wants me and so he went to bat for me and I was offered a plea deal, take two days unpaid suspension and keep my job or fight it...and roll the dice! I took the deal as I'm not stupid and realize that fighting a school district with a billion dollar budget isn't a smart idea.   So what does that have to do with hiking, well, it has to do with my approach to life vs. those who almost destroyed my career and life. I think about things that are a "big" deal and things that aren't. I look at what happened with me and the person who was out for my blood and then I think of Meredith Emerson, or a friend of a buddy who accidently ran over his 2 year old daughter two weeks before Xmas, and I think life is too short to worry about stupid shit. My father has a saying which I adopted early on."Don't Sweat the Small Shit" It has served me well, but some people have to make everything that they are involved in important, sometimes it is and sometimes it isn't. These are the people that want everyone to conform to their way of thinking. As a young man I felt like I had to do my best to conform to these ideals, get a good job, get married, have children, acquire material possessions. After all, these were signs of success, and you had to show that you were successful. The problem was that it never quite felt right, it felt like I was living a lie, not marching to the beat of my own drum so to speak. I wasn't hiking my own hike. Turning 30 coincided with my rediscovering the AT, and finally I found my groove in life. I junked my material dreams, sure I still like to have certain things, but I don't see them as necessities any longer. I don't worry about pleasing others, if you aren't my family, then I don't really care. I aim to get along with others, but there's a difference between getting along and trying to please. As for my song of the day, well it's all about trying to meet expectations and fit in, even when there's a part of you that finds it almost impossible. Most hiker trash just exist, and are who they are. They also accept others for who they are, that is why I feel at home on the trail. Is the trail magical? No, but it has allowed me the time and space to figure out who I am a little bit better. Hike your own hike not only refers to the trail but can also be a philosophy to live your life by. I do!So the song of the day is:"Eight Feet Tall" by Gabriel Manni am a lonely trainready to run awaycan¢t go forever deartracks they will disappeari¢m gonna disappearthey roll their eyescutting me down to sizestraight line i couldn¢t fakethey said i¢d breaksaid if i bent i¢d breakmaybe i know itmaybe i can¢t come througheveryone¢s waitingto see what i¢m gonna doso hard to stand under that weighthard to be eight feet tallfeels like a mountain nowto overcome somehowtry to see through my veiltry to make me failbut i¢m on another railmaybe i know itmaybe i can¢t come througheveryone¢s waitingto see what i¢m gonna doso hard to stand under that weighthard to be eight feet tall