I survived when there was NO hope. Want to know how?

At the office things can get stressful without any meaningful release.  I leave work exhausted from the inside out knowing I’ll soon be back there, doing it again tomorrow.  The people I work with are wonderful but my soul is not feed.  On the days I know that I haven’t done my best for “the man” I leave feeling even more exhausted.  Sometimes I walk to my car wondering how I’ll survive emotionally.

I joined the Master Key Experience course and discovered for myself what I need to create my own ideal existence.  Backpacking in the wilderness, away from the rat race, is on my list of personal necessities. Backpacking is not a cross between hiking and camping but a macho melding of the two that brings out the very best in both.  It can also bring out the very best in me.

Last weekend I went on my first backpacking voyage into freedom of the 2016 season.  Actually, it was my first true, out in the wilderness, backpacking trip in almost 10 years.  I have been hiking around, wearing my pack, to get into backpacking shape, but hadn’t been working it very hard since changing to full-time at my job.  My daughter, Casey, and I were going on a short, one day in and on day out, hike.  I decided that 5 miles would be just right.

It was a bigger hike then my body was ready to handle.  I used up more energy than I had in me climbing over blown down trees and river rock.  I only made it in about 4 miles before Casey came back to check up on me.  We found a flat spot and set up the tent.  I was exhausted.

Please note, when you hike too far in, there are no shortcuts to hike back out of the wilderness.   I had to ask Casey to hike behind me because I was so muscle fatigued it was a given that I would be falling on the steep parts of the trail.  She also had to be there to help me over the downed trees and in case I was injured during a fall.

My automatic inclination is to never let anyone be around me when I’m struggling.  To be able to ask for Casey’s help was possible in a large part because of my personal growth during the Master Key Experience course.

The last 2.5 miles out I was in complete survival mode.  I was hiking on endurance and resistance that was completely mental, using many of the tools I learned in the Master Key Experience.  I gave gratitude for my forward steps with a mantra of, “Thank you … thank you….”  I had a clear picture in my mind of making it back to the car under my own power.  I remembered past successes.  I concentrated how this hike fit in with many of my personal goals.  I persisted until I reached the trailhead.  I breathed in the beauty around me.

I went from feeling NO hope to feeling wonderful at the end of my backpacking trip.