Off To The Top

I grew up in Los Angeles, California, where there was always a beach nearby. I think because I grew up always going to the beach, I enjoyed it, but never appreciated it that much. L.A. can be a busy place, and with the traffic, the noise, the many people on the beach entertaining hoping to get discovered, it’s easy to get distracted from nature’s beauty.

When I turned 18 I moved to Sacramento, California. Northern California seemed like a different state, I could even say a different world. There weren’t any beaches, only rivers in Sacramento. I didn’t appreciate the city for the first three years that I lived there. I considered it to be boring. I would find myself taking road trips and flights to L.A. often.

One day when I was 21 years old, I went hiking for the first time as an adult. Something magical happened to me. I began to see nature for it’s true beauty. I started to feel happy and I started to feel at peace for the first time in my life. I started having positive thoughts that I would never normally think of, as if they were downloaded into my brain. Seeing redwood trees and beautiful mountains, along with the golden hills became hypnotic.

I was energized, excited about going on different paths and seeing where it would lead me. It was almost like a drug, I was addicted to this wanderlust and great sense of adventure. My friends and I would travel throughout Northern California, from San Francisco, to Lake Tahoe and everywhere in between to conquer a new land. I would even have guys take me hiking on first dates. I had all of these beautiful feelings, yet I struggled to articulate this magical feeling.

By 22 or 23, I was dating a guy who loved hiking as much as I did. He was definitely more in tuned with nature than I was. He would meditate in the mountains, hug trees and talk to grass. I thought it was really cool and different so I decided to try it. Although I enjoyed connecting with nature the way he did, I still couldn’t find the words to express how hiking affected me.

By 25, still living in Sacramento, my brother murdered my best friend in our apartment while I was sleeping. This would be an event that changed my life forever. Before this happened I was the happiest I’d ever been in my life. I was hiking, meditating, and doing reiki healing, sound healing, and other holistic practices. I was now, devastated, broken, grieving two people that I loved dearly. I knew I didn’t want to create an addiction or negative habits, so I decided to go to therapy and get two life coaches.

Therapy helped me express myself for the first time and it was healing. I realized I had so much trouble articulating my thoughts because I never outwardly expressed myself. My practical life coach taught me how to journal, and make vision boards, and take various personality quizzes so I could journey and discover myself. My spirit life coach took me on retreats and I would meditate all the time, keeping the faith and keeping myself grounded. I also learned how to receive messages all around me.

About a year later I went hiking again, and I felt the same magic that I always felt. This time I really started to understand what it was that brought me so much peace. You start off easy, in a beautiful place and you’re excited. As the journey continues you face many challenges and obstacles. You could be struggling to go uphill, or you’re unsure about the jagged path you’re on. You might even be afraid of heights, but somehow you keep going.

You might have not brought enough water with you, you might see wildlife, maybe you start feeling tired, and just when you feel like turning around, there are people that are making their way back to the beginning, they lock eyes with you, they smile, and they give you so much encouragement along the way. All of a sudden, you look at your incredible view, taking it all in. You see this creation is overwhelmingly incredible, and you are experiencing this moment. Your phone doesn’t have signal, and you’re away from the hustle and bustle of life. Although you are facing many challenges on this journey you keep going because you know you can do it.

You finally reach the end of the trail and you’re at the mountain top! The views are breathtaking, absolutely worth everything you just been through. You been through a lot. You might even feel like crying. Or you just bask in victory and you enjoy the sweet reward of being at the top. I usually get to the top and I feel all of these feelings, but more importantly I feel the best sense of peace I’ll ever experience. I start meditating and I realize, it’s not just about the hike.

This is about everything I’ve ever been through in my life. This is about every challenge, every obstacle, every setback, every heartbreak, every failure, and the fear I’ve experienced. No matter what happens in the journey I’ll always keep going, enjoying the present moment and persevering until I make it to the top. I now apply what I experience during those hikes and I use it as motivation to get through anything life throws my way.

I have so much confidence and so much faith that no matter what happens, there’s always a way out and there’s always a path that leads you to the top. In the meantime enjoy your surroundings in the midst of your challenges and obstacles. Just when you feel like giving up, keep going. When people smile at you and give you encouragement, and they’re being helpful when you’re doubting yourself, have gratitude. Enjoy the journey, once you make it out of all that, you will experience peace on such a grand level.

I took a tragic situation that could’ve ruined me, and instead, I healed myself, learned how to love myself, and I became a world traveler. Hiking in nature taught me how to overcome that situation. I would find myself crying tears of joy that I made it to the mountain top, and no one could ever take that from me. I now have a skill that guarantees peace. There’s so much gratitude I have for everything I have learned along the way. The best part is I’m still living, and there’s still multiple paths for me to journey on.