Courage defined

The clock was ticking and I was still at least 4 hours away from yellowstone. After consulting with Justine via phone, I decided to camp instead at the Crater's of the Moon National Park. 3 "active" volcanoes (remember what I said active meant in the last post) and their lava flows is the main reason this is a National Park. I set up camp and took of on their featured hike visiting all three of them. The is where courage kicked in. Many of you know that I have an irrational relationship with exercise of any sort. It has dogged me since as a child I was picked last for every team sport. I tried in my twenties to thwart this by enrolling with Heather in Team In Training and training to run a marathon. It worked gloriously for her, but I quit and burned that psyche scar all the deeper. Yet again I was a failure and would never be good enough to be feel confident in physical activity of any sort. After taking a three day seminar course called the Landmark Forum (you can ask me about it privately if you wish) I resolved to walk through my fears with courage. It was here in Idaho that I walked through that fire (get it?). The hike was about 4 Miles round trip and most of it was vertical. (Beautiful by the way and educational to boot. I highly recommend doing it if your ever in Eastern Idaho.) After the first breathless mile I was ready to turn around. I keep trying to justify why I should go back. The sun was dropping, I might get hurt, I was out of breath, etc. instead, I paused, thought about courage and kept on going. It was hard, both physically and mentally, but I made it.

I was sore the next day, but it was worth it. I walked through my fear, was rewarded with breathtaking vistas and got to tell you all about it here.

Arco, United States