The 14,000 Vertical Ft Lesson Plan

It seems to me that mid-twenties are all about seeking destinations. I spent a week this summer back in Minnesota with tight knit friends that transformed within my 7 month absence to engaged couples, parents, and co-habitants. Walking through my old office skyways, I was consumed with anxiety over my own personal deadlines. Oh dear, I ran off to the mountains and now I’LL NEVER FIND LOVE OR MONEY OR MAKE FRIENDS OR GIVE BIRTH. Don’t smirk females…you’ve been there.

I came home and decided to get over my fear of commitment, kick ass and take names. That’s when my anxiety dove back in like a significant other that tore apart your insides who randomly shows up at the coffee shop down the street when all you were looking for was an afternoon caffeine kick. Naturally, I decided to take my anxiety as high as I could which happened to be 14,200 feet.

Readers, my journey started at 5:30am with two new friends and one old. We began hiking for two hours on the wrong mountain. Hah, isn’t adventure a bitch. But naturally, it wouldn’t be adventure if it was expected.  Ok, so we are now at 7:30am and we are hiking up the planned 14er and I’m feeling good, ready, ambitious.  Halfway up and my lungs are gasping, glutes feel acidic and knee caps are flipping me off. I’m mumbling profanities and working on motivational quotes when most of our water runs out. That’s when the nausea kicked in and the Clif bar I’m supposed to eat tastes like dog food that has been dried in the Arizona sun for weeks. I sit down and look around. Damn, I’d been moving so fast to one goal I almost forgot to look at the beautiful journey to the top. Needless to say, we made it up and I was so thirsty with altitude sickness that I barely remember the summit.

Okay, what have we here? This blog often revolves around love and love, my dears, is not hard. Relationships are hard. The journey is hard. But love, does not need a definition and fortunate for us, love is with you every step of the way. If you are still stuck hiking for two hours before you even reach your mountain then holy shit your opportunities are endless. If you have just reached your mountain and you’re on top of the world, beautiful!, don’t forget to keep looking around. If you’re halfway up then start to notice the magic that surrounds you and how you have a choice to keep moving. Sometimes we reach the summit and it’s not what we planned. That’s when you start to chip away at the debris that began to surround your heart and slowly make your way down. Another mountain is waiting and I bet it will be one hell of a journey.