One Step at a Time

Headed to summit South Sister! Even though it’s my second time, I am still kind of freaking out. Will I actually make it through those 12 miles again?!

A few years ago, I told myself that I wanted to hike at least one big mountain each year. Last year it didn’t happen, and I pretty much gave up on this year. I lacked the courage and will to push myself to do this on my own.

So when a friend asked if I wanted to hike South Sister this weekend, I said, oh hell yeah! It is time for me to challenge myself and confront some my own shit that I have been dealing with.

And if I needed any more reassurance…when I walked into my office that morning, my staff person gifted me a pin of Three Sisters, without knowing that I committed to the hike that morning. Oh hell yeah Universe!

I wake up early to get to the trailhead and look up at the incredible 10,358ft volcano. Will I ever get to the top?! Fuck, this will be a steep and long one.

I walk and walk and walk. It gets steeper and steeper and steeper. The journey feels impossible. The mountain seems insurmountable. I know better and refrain from complaining to my friend. But I notice I am complaining in my mind.

With each step, I continue to notice my mindset and decide confront the real shit I am dealing with. Heartbreak. Attachment. Fear. I notice how I have been clinging to disempowering thoughts for some time now. Ugh, I could just yell and cry!  

I see that this is the perfect time to explore the fear and attachment. But it’s so uncomfortable! It just seems easier to just stay where I am! But I know that there’s so much more to uncover and something greater is available. 

As I look deeper, I begin to release emotion and step out of the painful thoughts and feelings. I allow myself to observe what I am dealing with and try to understand it better. With each step, I am able to let go of the clinging to fear and attachment. I know I don’t have to live like this another step longer. This choice is the pathway to freedom.

One step at a time, I hike up the volcano. It’s uncomfortable, scary but completely exciting.  I know a disempowered mindset won’t serve me on my hike. I decide to eliminate this fear, breathe it all in, and take one step at a time.

This is the work…managing our minds. Noticing where our attention lives and letting go of attachment to the thoughts that truly don’t serve us. Especially those that we want to cling on to so tightly. When we choose to let go, breathe into them, we can find a clearing.

With each and every single step, I eventually, and without struggle, reached the top of the mountain! I’m here already!?

As an Empowerment Coach, I highly recommend confronting the hard stuff head on, no matter how insurmountable it feels. With every step, there is a new discovery and something else available. Something so much greater than those disempowering thoughts.

For me, on top of that mountain, I found Freedom. Love. Infinite Possibility.

What are you dealing with?

What is available for you at the top of your mountain?

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