How do I begin?
My soulful and fitness trip, Grand Canyon, Alabama Hills, Yosemite, and all the moments in between left me breathless.
I’m incredibly grateful I have the health and drive to do these adventures. I realize this is my happy place and for many it would be pure torture. Truly. Just like going shopping in the Big Apple or LA would not be fun for me; these life-changing fitness moments are my joy. We are all unique in our “happy places of inspiration”.
What I can tell you is I am left inspired and revitalized to raise my bar on living my best life. How do we (I) do this? I ask myself if the choice I am making is one that will help me do another adventure next week, next month, or next year. One moment at a time. One step at a time.
When we started our Rim to Rim trek last Tuesday …we didn’t start at 4:30…instead at 3:15 AM! I went slowly to protect my ankle~ my priority. My husband stayed with me, our friends forged ahead. I’ll never forget the visual of seeing their headlamps in a line under the great big starry sky. Knowing we had no choice but to finish and now we are in the hands of nature, something to respect humbly. We didn’t know what lay ahead, but we did know we’d finish.
Starting out with a beanie and jacket (40 degrees), by 8 am I was in shorts and a sun shirt. Little did I know by the time we crossed the Colorado River a few hours later, we would be in the fully exposed sun, climbing out of the Canyon at 115 degrees sucking the water out of our body… for 4 hours. No shade.
One step at a time.
It didn’t matter how fast we trekked, we (or I ) didn’t care if I finished in a certain amount of time, I cared about the health of my body, my husband, our friends, and finishing safely …just making it up to the South Rim in a healthy way.
We have limits. We need to know our limits. And then find ourselves limitless within these limitations.
One step at a time.
I remember the stream we found and soaked our feet in with the dragonflies gracefully flittering around. I remember seeing a RUNNER sprinting past us going the other way down to the massive river, wondering how they’ll do coming back up. I remember loving my poles. I remember dunking my head (3 x ) under the water hydrations stations at the Ranger’s stations….practically taking a full shower…then feeling rejuvenated and a little child-like. I remember seeing a family of rams and babies on the trail, letting us know it is THEIR trail, not ours. I remember seeing the top of the South Rim, feeling so close to finishing, yet still having another 2 hours to trek up. I remember the clouds towards the last hour which showed up out of nowhere to give us relief. I remember seeing my friend who was way ahead of me that morning, only to stop as he had heat exhaustion and responsibly stopped for a couple of hours to cool down. I remember seeing our other 2 friends who finished before us cheering us on the last 25 yards. And I remember sitting on the South Rim staring out at what we’d done, in complete amazement of what the human body can do.
One moment, one step at a time.
I remember the next morning Brad and I doing yoga on the covered porch of our little cabin with the South Rim (and 100 people) right by us, and savoring the amazing resilience of the human body and even more so of the human spirit.
One step at a time.
Mostly I remember feeling incredibly grateful, humbled, and inspired. Not concerned about time, rather taking in moments.
That day we drive on to explore the Alabama Hills. We woke up to watch the sunrise and lightly hike over these rocks from what seemed like another planet, then off to one of my favorite places ever, Yosemite~ to enjoy another hiking adventure with a body and soul that puts up with my will.
Saving Yosemite’s magic for another time, I need to take a pause and relish the splendor of the Grand Canyon, a hike of a lifetime, and how it challenged me; how I am yearning to keep that spark.
And at the base of it all, knowing we can do nearly anything if we prepare, we have support and we take it one step at a time.
