Thursday, May 29, 2003
Don't fight the trail.

You have to flow with it.
You can't make a mountain any less steep
... or an afternoon any cooler or the day any longer,
... so don't waste your energy complaining time and distance and terrain.

And the trail itself cannot be changed.
You have to change yourself.
You have to adopt your mind, heart, and soul to the trail.

For every five days on the trail, you can expect
... one day to be uncomfortably wet,
... one day to be uncomfortably dry,
... one day to be uncomfortably hot,
... one day to be uncomfortably cold,
and one day... to be comfortable

Don't expect Nature to respect your man made comfort level ... and your desire to control your environment. In our desire to avoid discomfort we may become more uncomfortable.

Leave your cultural level of comfort at home. Forget about your material wants. Just concentrate on your physical & spiritual needs.

Yes, you can wear one t-shirt the entire journey; ... you don't have to take showers; ... you can survive on one hot meal a day; ... don't need a roof and walls around you at night. Leave your emotional fat at home as well. Feel free to laugh and to cry, ...to feel lonely and to feel afraid, ...to feel socially irresponsible and to feel foolish, and to feel free.

Rediscover your childhood. Play the game of the trail. Roll with the punches and learn to laugh in the face of adversity.

Trail life teaches us how to live all the parts of our lives. The most important lessons we have learned in life, trail life has taught us.

by ~me~ at 9:35 PM ©

---