This summer I had the opportunity to hike various mountains and trails in Ireland and England for three weeks as part of an English course with my college. I had not done much hiking prior to the trip but figured it was an opportunity to try something new and go abroad. Some days were longer than others and the difficulty varied from day to day. However, throughout the weeks I was taught numerous life lessons.
1. Teamwork is everything
In any group activity everyone is going to have a different background and level of ability. People will get discouraged, tired, nervous at times and you have to pull through. The best kinds of group are those who help each other out and thus form strong friendships and relationships.
2. We rely on and use our phones more than we care to admit
The WiFi in both the house and England itself was extremely sporadic. Since we generally did not have service while we were hiking everyone checked their phones the minute we got back to our house. We had to make sure that we kept up with the group because there was no way of using Google maps in the middle of a trail.
3. Resilence: Nothing that is meaningful is easy
In life you are going to have ups and downs. Sometimes when we are doing something hard, we ask ourselves Why am I doing this if it causes me to be somewhat uncomfortable? We do it because we will gain something and that it makes us stronger. I am not sure if the trip would have had such a large impact on me if the hikes were not challenging.
4. Sometimes pictures don't do it justice
The picture above was taken at the top of Helvelynn which is the 2nd tallest mountain in England. I think the first syllable of the name sums up the difficulty of the hike and it was by far the most strenuous hike. Pictures do not always reveal everything, and you cannot tell how hard it was just by looking at the picture.
5. Sometimes you just have to go with the flow
Nobody can predict the future. When you are hiking in the middle of nowhere anything can happen. It can be sunny one minute and start pouring the next. We were unsure of how long the hike would take. Sometimes our itinerary changed due to weather and we wind up doing hikes earlier than we expected. In life we have to adjust to change easily and be spontaneous. We cannot always have our way.
6. Experience is the best teacher
As I mentioned earlier this was an English course that involved hiking the various landscapes that authors wrote about. We were told to take it all in, and think about how we felt. It is much easier to understand and connect with the literature when you are actually there.
7. Pain is only temporary, victory lasts forever
Sometimes we do not recognize the value of an experience until we are finished. There were several times,particularly on the hard hikes, that I wanted to give up.We always have a voice inside our heads that wants us to stop, But you have to find that fire inside of you that says, if I keep going I will always be able to say I finished.
8. Slowing down makes a journey more manageable
When you are hiking you have to pace yourself. It is so easy to become so focused on a goal that you forget about what is going on around you. By stopping numerous times, I was not only able to catch my breath but also to take in the view around me as well as the company I had.
