My Observation — From My Hiking Experiences 2020
Since I returned from Canada in mid-January, I have a long list of plans for my 2020 new year. One of my plans is looking to push myself beyond my physical limits. The reason is I am getting older and have to keep in good cardio condition, so I try to go to hiking whenever possible. I frequently hike the same mountain — Castle Peak. It is one of three sharp summits in Hong Kong, which is a challenging and physically demanding trail with steep slopes. A continuous stair of up with more than 1,000 steps (not a rock scramble).
From Jan 18 till now, I usually go to this mountain at least twice a week in the morning and during February, I practiced four times a week. However, I often have negative thoughts when I plan to go there.
Negative Thoughts vs Positive Physical Action?
Sometimes, I think “ Aya, it’s too early now and I will go after 9am”; or imagine that “wow, the sun is too strong, even though it is only 8.30 or 9.00 am. Perhaps it is better to go after 4.30 pm, or even give it a rest since I have already hiked for two days this week. My legs are a bit painful now. I should take a good rest today. Don’t push myself”.
There are many excuses that make me hesitate, but I usually say nothing to myself. I just brush my teeth, take a water bottle, don my hiking shoes and just leave home. When I smell the trees and listen the bird songs, my thoughts are on the wonderful day and I’m thankful for all the nice creatures that are around me.
I will try to deep breathe with every step.
Your Pace vs My Pace
Before I start climbing the mountain, I will meditate (prayer walk). Where I will enjoy a quiet environment and intentionally control my breathing. I am sometimes affected by other people, where some elders walk very fast and I want to walk at their pace. Not because I want to compete with their pace, but I envy their well-trained physical fitness.
Of course, I will feel exhausted, but the same theory applies to people who want to walk faster than me and before they reach the peak, they are often behind me.
I keep reminding myself that I should just follow MY OWN PACE, as I am the only one who knows my current condition; only I know the purpose of this exercise and it is I who decides my rate of progress. I enjoy my walks so much and since mid-February, I can walk to the peak without stopping. Moreover, I can increase my speed every time I walk, which is a good enough achievement for myself.
Indeed, other hikers are my companions. I feel so good when I greet them with “good morning”, or if I see anyone who is quite exhausted, I will offer words of encouragement like “less than 5 mins, you can reach the peak”. At other times, I walk with puppies as companions. I could not get a more harmonious scene.
Long term view vs Short term view
I am a visionary. It is my habit to perceive the big picture first, but it is easy to be overwhelmed by the steepness of the mountain. Sometimes, it looks formidable and I will feel there is a long way to go, which makes me unable to concentrate on my meditation and only focus on the hardship ahead. So, I change my normal habits by focusing on my hiking shoes and very soon, I am surprised that I can reach a few extra miles without much effort. In fact, distraction is from within, where we can create barriers by our visualization.
Self-Assertion vs Self Care and Balance
This is really difficult to define for everything, as one formulation cannot apply to all. If I am not pushy, I will not have the incentive to have a regular hike. Hence, one’s behaviour can change your lifestyle. The key is in the execution, not the perception. A long list action plan is useless without the required action, not what it looks like? However, I am sometimes in a quandary, as to whether my action plan is set in stone? Is it better to sleep and have more and more rest and improve my self-care at the same time, or should I stick to my action plan.
My answer is that I need to balance my decision. Either I go to hiking or eat an ice-cream, there is no right or wrong and good or bad answer, but life is for enjoyment. We can liken it to food, where we have different tastes, sweet, sour, bitter and spicy, but it should be balanced and used with the right foods at the right time. Life is similar, a bit like a roller coaster. Up and down with speed. At times, you enjoy so much; other times you feel fear and anxiety. It is a matter of balance between the ups and downs that we appreciate the moments of enjoyment to the full.
Life is a gift, so let us enjoy it when we can.
External Factors and Internal Factors
Same mountain, same trail and the same stairs, but with different weathers. They all influence the mood of the experience and the ability to achieve your objective. All are completely different. For example, I remember the first day I hiked, it was raining lightly. So, I decided to hike to the middle and run up and down the stairs ten times. It was even tougher than just hiking to the peak. The following day was a good day with breeze, which was a luxury gift by comparison with the previous day.
From the experience, I had noticed that my current mind and mood while hiking was concentrated on only one thing — my enjoyment of hiking; but how can I have an empty mind without any distraction? For instance, when I feel the walk is tough, I imagine my to-do list in my mind, but when I have an empty mind, my sensations are stronger. I am conscious of the smell of plants and flowers. The sound of birds are loud and clear. The external environment affects my inner cognition. How I can build a strong coherent relationship between my inner side and these external features to act like a shelter? Practice makes prefect!
From our daily lives, everything can be a very good training material for our life-long learning. Life is beautiful. I have fully understood the real art of happiness. How about you? What is important to you now?
