[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

[at-l] finishing the trail

Finishing the AT was extremely important to me for a lot of reasons.  After
the recent flame wars, I'm a little scared to even try to explain, so I'll
just give three.  When I started the trail the first time, I didn't know if
I could finish.  I thought I was too slow, too unathletic, whatever.  When I
finally realized that yes, I really could do it, there was as sense of total
liberation.  I could fly.  I saw that any limitations I had in my life were
self-imposed.  There was a realization that anything I truly wanted could be
mine, if I was only willing to pay the price.  Finishing the AT gave me
wings.  

The second thing has to do with commitment - the fact that there is a
difference between just doing something as long as it is fun, and doing it
to the finish because you are committed to it.

The third has to do with change - in rereading my journals recently, I saw
that the changes in me were very gradual.  Many didn't really begin
manifesting themselves until Maine.  Many didn't come out until a few years
after I finished.  I needed all the time -- and more - that I took to learn
some of my trail lessons.  Three months would not have done it for me.  

The trail, for some of us, is more than a vacation and a lot more than just
a hike.  

And to be honest, I really am scared to explain why. The AT list is not a
safe place for me anymore.  I may learn to trust it again - but it may take
awhile.

Ginny O.
* From the Appalachian Trail Mailing List | For info http://www.hack.net/lists *

==============================================================================