[at-l] Advice to Newbies - self doubt

[Phil.Heffington@oc.edu (Phil Heffington)]

I agree with others who have commented that not completing a thru-hike
does not, necessarily, indicate "failure", at least in the negative
since of it's usage.  I do appreciate the kind of self honesty that Rafe
the terrapin indicated in his comments when he wrote:

"I can't tell you what it takes to 
succeed.  I can tell you why I didn't:  I simply lost interest.  
The ratio of enjoyment to effort wasn't enough to sustain 
the quest."

Pardon my mental loss, but where did I read earlier today about the
hiker who changed their priorities during their hike, and no longer
considered finishing as meeting the priority they had set at the
beginning?  As it turned out, that person ended up completing their
thru, but didn't consider it as much of an accomplishment as they had
originally thought.  That person said that they learned pretty much what
they set out to learn about himself by the time he reached Pennsylvania,
or something to that effect.

I'm a person who somehow enjoys the discomfort of uncertainty and what
taking the next step (literally, in the case of hiking)may teach me that
I had otherwise not anticipated.  At any rate, I usually find that the
quest is more fulfilling than looking back on actually reaching the
goal.