Out For A Walk

Out For a Walk
Many people want to know why I want to hike the Appalachian Trail. You know, that’s a good question. I think that no two AT (Appalachian Trail) hikers have the same reasons. Me? Well, my reason is simple…its my dream. Some people aspire to be the CEO of a major company or to be a musician or doctor..you get the idea but not me.

From now until the day I set foot on Mt Katahdin in Maine (the finishing point) I will periodically be keeping a journal. The journal up until April 1 will hopefully detail all of my preparation. I think the hardest aspect of the trail I will need to condition for is my mental toughness and overcoming the times when I want to give up because they will come. Anyways, even if I am the only one that ever reads this journal or people are actually entertained by it, I want to keep a record of everything from point A to Z on my Appalachian/Life journey.

Every day I sit in my cubicle and punch my daily numbers. Is it a good job? Yeah and it has good benefits to go along with it. I make enough to get by on and have the stuff I need like a car, place to live, and food in my belly. I live paycheck to paycheck. I honestly can not afford much at all. Does that make me sad? Not really. I live a meaningful life and I live for God. Simply stated though, I want more out of my life. I live life to experience things. Material wealth does not hold much water with me. Life is way to short to put your dreams on hold. I’m healthy, I love life, I want to live life now so the cubicle life is not for me.

Life is too short to have the cubicle life. I used to say, when I can get the time I will definitely hike the Appalachian Trail. Everyone has something in their life like that. 99.9% of all people never take the chance follow their heart. The minute they face adversity they go back to whats comfortable. I was like that too. Finally, last week, I said to myself, when am I ever going to have the time or money to hike the Appalachian Trail? The way I was going…never! My sister Abigail made me feel like I wasn’t an idiot for wanting to do this. She was very inspiring to me. She was the one support system I needed to say the heck with everything, I’M DOING IT!

Everyone has an Appalachian Trail in them. No, that doesn’t mean that they want to hike the trail but it does mean that they have a dream. Now is my time to grab life by the horns and do what I want to do. On October 12, 2008, I was baptized and I have never looked back. I have since devoted my life to God and trying the best I can to live my life through him. One of the biggest things I had to learn was that I had to put my whole heart and trust in God, even when things don’t look like they are going to work out. I also learned to put faith in God by following his desires for me. Not following someone else’s desired path for me but God’s path. I believe that someone’s desires might not always make sense to the people around them but one knows when their heart is right. Like I said, this might not make sense to you but I feel it’s the right thing to do.

I believe I’m supposed to walk this trail. It feels right in my heart. It just does. Not only am I to walk this trail but maybe I’m supposed to show others that they can follow their dreams through hard work. I am going to work to save the money. This trip wouldn’t have its meaning if someone wrote me a $5k check and said here you go. There’s no sacrifice in that or sense of accomplishment. No, I hope to work for all the money I need for this trail. I believe that if I can model God’s desires it might inspire someone else to accomplish their dreams. Most importantly, I want to show others that they can accomplish their dreams even when times are tough. Just one person, that’s all it takes to make this trip and dream of mine accomplish its goal.

Even if someone only reads this once, it’s a success to me if they can just think about what it takes to accomplish their dreams. Just invoking a thought like “I am going to follow my dreams” is a ginormous success for me. If I’m the only one that reads this it will still be a great success if it simply reminds me to be an example to those around me and to always show what God has done for me. This is my dream…day 1.