I came
around the corner expecting to find a plateau to rest on. There was a small
indent in the hillside and I got to sit and rest. I was revelling in the breathtaking
view of the vast rolling hills of a small county in Scotland. My hiking buddy
and local expert attempted to sit on the grassy slope but slid down the side
of the steep hill. The grass is slick and I had underestimated the climb. After
our brief break we are motivated to resume climbing.
As we maneuver up the
hill we realise that the path we had taken was created by sheep and was not a valid
hiking track. The climb had become trickier. I had said to my hiking buddy that I
thought we should turn back. As I turned to look over my shoulder, I saw glossy
grass without a clear path to descend. I had a flashback of my fellow hiker’s
earlier slide down the hill and realised that going “back” was going to be more
treacherous than going up the hillside. As we forged ahead we suddenly came upon
a well-trodden path. My guide recognises the “big rock" and we celebrate our
victorious landing with a long drink. We unpacked and ate badly bruised bananas as we took pictures of the most incredible view, thrilled that we had made the decision not to go back. I was grateful that we kept advancing in spite of my initial
nervousness.
This is
so often true of life particularly when we find ourselves in unfamiliar
terrain. It is easy to become disoriented and allow fear to cause us to retreat.
There is danger in withdrawing. Fear can cause you to lose ground that you have
already gained through great effort. It can create the illusion of barriers and lie to you about the lack of your capacity and ability. This results in increased self-doubt. Facing your fear and daring to advance into the unknown
brings with it incredible rewards.
For my friend and I, we found ourselves the beneficiaries of the most awe-inspiring
panorama and the most delicious mountain air. In addition, as we travelled
further we found ourselves descending
to the last bench of the hike. This was an unexpected bonus. The rest of
the hike was effortless. Somehow our unforeseen detour had set us on a
trajectory that shot us way past our goal and allowed us to climb down to the
last bench (goal), to rest and languish in our accomplishment. I came to realise that this challenging climb had actually led us to our goal. We did not have to fight for it we just had to trust the climb and the gift of the challenge was the final bench.
