Date: 2016-07-22
From: camp

To: Millinocket Lake Area
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

In some ways, what the trail allows one is to see the change they want to be in the world. Here are some things that I saw or experienced on the Appalachian Trail that I hope to integrate into my life moving forward.   Some may resonate with you as well. 1. Capability - No matter what our parents told us, the truth is you can't be anything you want to be (or I would have had a brilliant career in the NBA). That said, we are capable of achieving far more than we think we can. "What would you do if you knew you could not fail?" is a question that may help push us beyond belief. 2. Simplicity - Life is very simple on the trail. Your day consists of walking, eating, and sleeping. Your concerns are largely related to meeting your basic physiological needs and staying safe. And what you quickly learn is that you don't need anything else to be happy. What you thought was important off the trail or what kept you up at night isn't even on your radar screen. In this regard, your parents and the Beatles were right, money can't buy you love...or happiness. Simplify your life. 3. Generosity - I was the recipient of countless acts of kindness and generosity I will never forget. A man pulling his car over to give me a ride into town on his way to seeing his wife in a nursing home where she was dying from Alzheimer's. Trail angels who didn't always have a lot of their own resources, unconditionally giving you what they did have. Hostel owners who charged just enough to survive, but whose primary motive was to serve and support you.   Of everything that I experienced on the Trail, becoming more generous may be the hardest for me off the trail, but I couldn't have asked for better role models to begin to stretch myself in this area.   4. Encouragement - I was also the recipient of something I never thought I needed or even wanted and that was words of encouragement. And it made all of the difference in the world. "You got this"; "You can do it"; "You are doing great." I doubted myself way more than my friends and family did until their words of encouragement became mine. Their encouragement turned into my positive self talk - "I got this"; "I'm doing great;"Keep it up...I am going to make it." As a father, husband, basketball coach, and soon to be school teacher, becoming more encouraging may be the most important lesson I learned on the trail. It may not move mountains, but it does move you up, down, and around them!   5. Goals - The power of small goals in achieving great ones. Even though I was in relatively good shape at the start of my hike, there were times during the first several weeks where I was doubled over, gasping for air, wondering how I was going to do this everyday. What I soon found was that by breaking up the 2,000 mile trip in small achievable goals was the only way to go. A week was broken into days; a day was broken into hours; a long ascent up a mountain was shortened by just telling myself I needed to get to the next blaze, and once there, the blaze after that. If the blazes were too far apart, I'd pick out a specific tree or rock and tell myself I would rest there, only to pick out the next one after that and repeat. Sometime I would count silently in my head, "I just need to get to 100." And again, once there, "now 200." 5. Rewards - Linked to number 5 above (the power of small goals), rewards help fuel the fire to meet the next challenge. Sometimes these rewards are given by the trail, like a magnificent view after a long, hard climb, or icy-cold spring water on a hot, humid day. But often these rewards are self-given, like a piece of candy after walking for hours in a row, a short nap in the middle of the afternoon, or a reservation at the next hostel where a shower, clean clothes, and good food awaits. Not every big challenge needs to be met with a reward, but every reward seems to help get you ready for the next big challenge.6. Resilience -The ability to bend but not break, to recover from misfortune, and to adjust to unforeseen circumstances is a critical success factor for through hikers. If there is a formula for it, it might be (Optimism + Gratitude + Purpose = Resilience). I saw a hiking community that believed no matter how bad things were, they were going to get better; that was grateful for what they had, even when it wasn't a lot ; and that had a sense of purpose for being on the trail. This combination of attributes seems to carry hikers a long way - as far as Georgia. May the sun bring you new energy by day, may the moon softly restore you by night, may the rain wash away your worries, may the breeze blow new strength into your being, may you walk gently through the world and know it's beauty all the days of your life. Apache BlessingSent from my iPhone