On Wednesday, some guys from my ward invited me to go hike Table Rock here in Boise. I agreed to go. I have been working on becoming more fit, and I thought "hiking a mountain is a good substitute for going to the gym tonight." It definitely was.
We got there and as we were going up the trail, one of the guys I was with mentioned that it was probably an intermediate hike. I immediately thought "INTERMEDIATE?!?!?! This girl needs a beginner's hike! haha" I wasn't about to show weakness, so I just pushed through the pain. There were definitely points where I wanted to tell the guys to finish the rest of the hike while I stayed where I was and just enjoyed the scenery instead of almost dying. I didn't though. I kept picturing Bob Harper and Jillian Michaels (they are fitness trainers on the Biggest Loser) there yelling at me to not stop and telling me that if I stopped, they would break my legs and beat me with them haha. I knew I just needed to keep putting one foot in front of the other. I knew I just needed to push through the pain.
After making about 20 different stops, I finally made it to the top. The top was so worth the pain! It was absolutely beautiful! They had a cement bench to sit on and enjoy the view.
When we went back down, it was a breeze. Downhill is always better than uphill! Granted, I still had to use a lot of muscle in my calves going downhill, and it still hurt, but it was nothing compared to how hard it was to get uphill.
This experience really taught me a lot of lessons. The first lesson would be that my body is a lot more capable to do hard things than I think it is. All I need to do is push myself! I can do hard things! Doing hard things actually feels good! My body felt good. My legs were jello, but it was a good jello =)
The second and main lesson I want to focus on is that hiking up that mountain is a lot like life. There are going to be ups and downs in our life. We will feel pain. There will be points where we want to quit, but that is when you push yourself harder. Climbing up that mountain is like life because life is an uphill battle. If we choose to quit because it is too hard, we miss out on the view at the top.
I am reminded of something my brother told me before I left on my mission. He told me, "You are going to have good times and bad times. The bad times WILL out number the good. BUT the good times will ALWAYS outweigh the bad." As we focus on the good things in our lives, they have the power to lift us up. They have the power to push us to be the best we can be. We have to focus on the good. Just like on that hike, I had to focus on how good it was going to feel to make it to the top. I had to focus on how good it was going to feel to take in that beautiful scenery that God created. Similarly, in life, if you stick to what is easy, you could miss out on blessings that God created for you. You could miss out on the opportunities to progress. You could miss out on reaching your true potential.
When you feel that you can't do it, say a little prayer, and push yourself. The Atonement has the power to push you. Christ is on our side. You may still feel pain, but that pain will be swallowed up in Christ as we press forward. As we keep walking.
