Re: [at-l] Reasons for Quitting (was a lot of other s**t)

["Felix J. McGillicuddy" <AThiker@smithville.net>]

Robert and Catherine Rubin wrote:

>
> But you're so busy putting in the miles during a thruhike you rarely get a
> chance to sit on a rock and put your life in order. The shelter-to-shelter
> ridgeline world is a kind of Limbo, somewhere between heaven and hell, but
> in this world of the fringe you're too busy to think yourself into
> damnation. You turn things over in your mind while you walk, but not with
> any sort of analytical precision. A thought, like a sock in the dryer, goes
> around and around, mixing with other tumbling thoughts, appearing,
> disappearing, hidden except for a flash of color, reappearing upside down
> and inside out, but finally not going anywhere. Your conscious mind is so
> busy staying on the path, avoiding roots and loose rocks, looking for bears
> or deer, or worrying about how hot or cold you are that your worries get
> mixed in with everything else. All the crisp edges get worn smooth and
> fuzzy by the tumbling. It's hard to dwell on a problem because you have to
> pay so much attention to staying upright, to staying on the trail. You just
> walk. And walk.
>
> ---Rhymin' Worm GA>ME '97
>
> Robert Rubin
>

Maybe that's what it's all about: Loosing your worries and problems for 5
months. They don't go away, they just change. You change, and therefore, the
way you handle your worries and problems changes. You realize that life can be
VERY enjoyable when your biggest concerns are finding a can of pop at a
roadside, making a shelter before a rain, or any of the multitude of other
seemingly meaningless things that become a thru-hikers life.

BTW, I found a green M&M on Charlie's Bunion the other day. Yes, I ate it.



--
Felix J. McGillicuddy
ME-->GA 98
"Your Move"
Stop in and see me at:  http://members.tripod.com/~Felixhikes/index.html




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