A couple of weeks ago, I did something which I thought I would never do in a life time. I had my very first hiking adventure. 3 of my friends & I made a call that we should do some hiking activity. Thus we decided to hike Broga.
For many hiking Broga is a very small, simple and easy experience but for me it was a huge task like climbing The Everest. That is because of my ever so poor fitness level and the fact about being fat. That is why I have always shun away from adventures activities. This time for a couple of personal reasons and just to snap some beautiful photos, I decided to hike Broga and the journey to the peak thought me that there was many things in common between hiking up Broga and Life itself
If I could I breakdown my hiking experience and equate it to life, I would break it to 5 stages
Stage 1: Decision Making Stage
Hiking: As I said for many years, I have been turning down invites from my friends whenever they asked me to hike with them. I would always say that I am too lazy, too fat or unfit. I kept shunning them away. I was in my comfort zone and living in denial that I was perfectly fine and healthy that I don't need to hike to gain an adventure experience
With the recent break up and hearing that my ex was kinda making a "sacrifice" of being with me despite me being fat spurred me to get out my comfort zone and do something to convince myself that I am capable of pulling of an adventures activity.
The first step was to complete the obstacle course at SKYTREX Shah Alam. Feeling positive from that experience, I decided to take up the hiking experience & it turned out to be an amazing feeling. To make it a reality, first I had to make that decision that I was going to hike and that is Stage One
Life: Just like making the decision to hike, in our life we have many dreams we would want to achieve but for unknown reasons we would put them away. We would tell ourselves we will start it tomorrow or give some other reasons to stay in our comfort zone.
Sometimes a series of unfortunate events will inspire us to get out of our comfort zone and start pursuing our dreams. The key here is not how you make your decision, but the very fact that you make the decision to do something about your life, to pursue your dreams
Stage 2: It's OK To Take A Break
Hiking: At first it felt easy hiking Broga, but after a short time, I begun feeling out of breath, felt my legs started giving away and I was in need of a break. Initially I didn't want to stop for a rest as my friends all seemed to be in fine shape. I didn't want to look like the weak one in front of them,
But I knew my body better. I need to rest or else something worse would happen. I let go of my pride and told them I needed a break and some water. Continuously as the hike continues I took multiple number of breaks to recharge myself before hiking back again.
Life: When you are pursuing your dreams, it can be very exhausting both mentally & physically. It can drain you out so much whereby you will not be getting your maximum output from your true capabilities.
That is why it is so important to take breaks in between your journey to recharge yourself. Take breaks and go for a vacation. Discover your purpose & drive again during this vacation. Take your mind of work for a week and just focus on yourself.
When you come back from this vacation, you will feel so much more energized and you will see yourself getting the best out of you
Stage 3: To Quit Or To Stay
Hiking: It was dark and around 6 A.M. that day. I have no idea how much of the hiking track I have completed. My legs were killing me already and the bottom part of my legs starts to shiver every time I stood still.
There was a huge empty ground and I decided to take a break. As I lay down, many thoughts were running through my mind. I start to feel numbness in my legs and I was out of breath. I thought this is it, I can't do this anymore and I am going to just quit and stop here. An inner voice in me was telling me to get up and continue this journey but mentally and physically I was all wiped out.
Had I gone alone, I would have stopped there and than and not reach the peak. Thanks to my friends, they kept pushing me and not allowing me to quit until I made it to the peak. They will tell me stuff like it is only 30 more steps or we are 5 minutes away from the peak. They would point to something on top and say that's the peak and you are almost there. They would make me turn around and look back down how much have I completed and there was just a little more to go.
Of cause I never there were lying to me. I knew the peak was much further away and not five minutes and 30 steps away, but more importantly I knew that they were doing all this so that I wouldn't quit. They would let me rest but wouldn't let me quit. I think they were more determined for me to finish the hiking more than myself. I wouldn't have completed it without you guys. Thanks a lot guys!
Life: The route to success is never easy and a straight path. It is difficult and painful and will push you to your limits. So much so many people quit half way towards achieving their dreams. That is why you don't see every Tom Dick & Harry end up being successful. That is because they quit when the going gets tough.
Make your dream your passion. Live and breath your dream. Visualize it, imagine how it feels to make your dream a reality. That is the fuel that will keep you going. Because in your life, you too will face a make or break moment towards pursuing your dreams. Wherther to give it your all and make that giant leap to success or to quit.
I hope you make the right decision and not quit on your dreams, because at the end of the day it is fantastic to see everyone around you succeed
Stage 4: Success
Hiking: The moment I was within touching distance of the peak, a sudden burst of energy came flowing through me. All of a sudden, the legs weren't hurting and I wasn't out of breath. I practically almost ran my way through the top.
The moment I step foot on the peak, a sense of pride just hit me. I shouted in joy that I made it to the peak despite all my limitations and mental blockage I had. I was over the moon and savoring the moment.
It was an amazing view and I took as much pictures as possible. I spent as much time as possible in top because it's a reward I deserved. I way have took twice or more longer time than a normal person would do but that didn't stop me from feeling happy. It was a hard earned success and ensure I lived it as much as possible making it a beautiful memory in my mind
Life: Shall you choose not give up at the crossroads of your life and continue to work hard and work right, it is only a matter of time before you succeed. It way not come to you immediately and longer than others but hey life isn't a race.
It doesn't matter who succeeds first or not as long as everyone succeeds because the pie is big enough for everyone to have a bite and there is plenty still left. Remember to celebrate your success once you have achieved it but you earned every bit of joy from it. That will fuel you up again.
Stage 5: The Next Challenge
Hiking: After enjoying every bit of my success, than it hit me I have to hike down back to ground. I had no idea how am I going to do it but all I knew is that now having reached the peak, I am motivated than ever and knew I will find my way down.
With that confident in mind I started the hiking down and successfully completed than challenges too!
Life: Just like the hike down, once you have achieved success and savor it, you cannot let yourself stuck in the comfort zone. You need to find a new challenge and start the process all over again. This time you will do it with more motivation and believe because now you know that if you put in the right effort and not give up you will be successful.
Now you are ready to face the next challenge in your life and trust me you won't fail!
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