I began to hike with my sister when I was about 16 or 17. Unlike many people, we didn’t hike for the thrill of exercise or to actually become healthier; instead, we hiked to embrace scenery and take pictures. We have an album at home filled with photographs of every adventure we took and I’m sure that my sister has a list somewhere of more hiking trails. It was our way of bonding after the show LOST had ended and frankly, we needed something to de-stress us after the rollercoaster that finale was. Fortunately, observing nature and smelling the fresh air has done wonders for my admiration of nature and it has also helped me think of problems in another way.

Hiking has taken a different meaning for me as the years have passed. I use hiking now as a way to self-reflect about what is going on in my life and what I need to do. Sometimes, the only time people have to themselves is the time they spend in the shower; that is a very unfortunate reality. Imagine being unable to put time aside to settle down with your own thoughts and determine the goals you want to set for yourself and how you can get there.

There is a special connection I feel that we all have with nature when we are alone - and I’m not saying this in a totally “hippie” kind of way; I am saying this as someone who was once indifferent to nature and now admires it. If you just lay down in a field, close your eyes, and breathe in the fresh air, a lot of the negative feelings sometimes just melts. Granted, those feelings are still there but they do not agitate you as greatly as they did when you first walked on to the place you are now laying down on. A few minutes of peace and calm thinking can do wonders in any situation.

I use hiking as a reminder that life is complicated all around me and that having some problems is just part of it all. Once you solve one, you’ll get another and life is all about teaching you how to get through them, even when things seem impossible. I know that I, as a person who is always working hard for perfection and doing things ahead of time, things can go downhill when people decide to not do their work or to take their sweet time doing it. Sometimes I get frustrated because no matter how much I do my work perfectly, outside influences always have a possibility to come in and make things unnecessarily difficult.

Sometimes I just need to take a walk, look at the beauty in flowers, trees, and even the simplicity of grass and I end up feeling that things will still work out. It just feels that the problems that we may face are so much smaller than the complexity and the endurance of nature. Sometimes we just need to be reminded that the simple things in life, the things we don’t really acknowledge when we leave our homes, can help us confront that which can take away our composure. Regain your serenity and go on a hiking adventure just for that peace of mind.