January 25, 20179 yr I love to hike and have had the joy and privilege of hiking 140 miles on the Appalachian Trail. Hiking involves hours and hours of... well... HIKING with short breaks to admire the spectacular view. Or flee from copperheads. Y'all see the metaphor coming, right? Quitting smoking is hours and hours of just breathing punctuated by short breaks to remember that I actually don't smoke and running from the occasional craving. So, Day 5 is all about continuing the hike. The longest journey begins with the first steps My mantra today is hike your hike.
January 25, 20179 yr I love to hike and have had the joy and privilege of hiking 140 miles on the Appalachian Trail. Hiking involves hours and hours of... well... HIKING with short breaks to admire the spectacular view. Or flee from copperheads. Y'all see the metaphor coming, right? Quitting smoking is hours and hours of just breathing punctuated by short breaks to remember that I actually don't smoke and running from the occasional craving. So, Day 5 is all about continuing the hike. The longest journey begins with the first steps My mantra today is hike your hike. We (Sarge and Mrs. Sarge) did Katahdin (Northern terminus of The A.T.) a couple of months back. Lovely hike! We're climbers ... but usually do more hiking than "hikers" just to get to the base of some obscure climb somewhere. Hiking at elevation and with terrain will really let you know you've screwed the pooch on cardio-vascular health with decades of smoking. What used to be an all-day affair as a smoker on, say, a 6-mile approach to a wall somewhere - causing ridiculous sucking of wind and many stops for smoke breaks has now become an easy romp through the hills. Hike the hike, folks. Both metaphorically AND for realsies. Easy Peasy
January 25, 20179 yr Well done...140 miles is brilliant.. Your hike the hike..can only get better..high five !!!
January 25, 20179 yr Keep hiking! :) I think I'd rather do just about anything than hike 140 miles (such as eating a pizza, pile driving tacos, etc) but I love the jist of your post and agree, its all about the first steps. Keep at it!
January 25, 20179 yr Hike the hike! I love it!! And I love your daily mantras! You are doing so AWESOME!!! :)
January 25, 20179 yr I too am an avid Hiker and I love the analogy. Spent Fall North South Lake Upstate, Spring of 2016 Yosemite and 2015 Zion. There is nothing like it........
January 26, 20179 yr Look at all of us coming out of the hiker closet. I too love to hike. Right now I am planning 2 shake down hikes... one in southern Indiana and the second is in New Hampshire. Then I will start working on Section hiking the AT. Figure it will take about 10 years.. .since unfortunately I have to work. While you are hiking stand on top of a mountain and take a deep breath and close your eyes and feel how amazing it is to have all that fresh air in your system. You could not do that as a smoker. Keep on hikin' on
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