‘Just Keep Walking or Fear Will Set In’
How trekking makes you dream again, and dream bigger!
It was October 2016, when I trekked through the Himalayas in Himachal Pradesh. The base camp was Jhanglik, a small village about eight hours from Shimla.
Jhanglik had the last motorable road, after which, we would see no habitation — just trekkers, camp staff, mules to carry the supplies, and the vast unknown terrain, which got more beautiful and more unpredictable, as we scaled higher.
We trekked. We slept in tents among cattle. We didn’t bathe or follow our daily routines. We had no internet access. We spoke to the mountains, and the mountains spoke back to us.
The days were spent charting rocky terrain. The nights were spent battling the cold. At -2 or -4 degrees Celsius, tucked under numerous layers of woollens and thermals, I was struck by the magnanimity of life, and the looming possibility of death…
Similar thoughts went through the other trekkers’ minds: What if the cold got the better of us? What if we didn’t make it across the big boulders connecting one mountain to the next? One slip of the foot, one loose stone, a miscalculated step, and down we’d go...
Death crossed all our minds, at some point or another.
Some panicked, and worried they wouldn’t make it back home to see their families again.
Sometimes we shivered, and cried... In happier times, around the bonfire, we laughed and sang... We put on brave smiles, held out a helping hand to our fellow trekkers — all on the same journey, yet each on a journey of their own.
Far away, in the lap of the mountains, as I looked up at the galaxy of stars above, I was both comforted and awed by the universe. I realised just how small our lives are, how insignificant our contributions…
I was neither as strong as the earth, nor as fluid as its streams, neither bright as the light, nor cold as the night.
But while we aren’t as strong or as cold, as bright or as fluid, as nature, we are still part of the whole, and the whole is part of us.
At times, we can be compassionate and warm, giving and flexible. At others, we can be mean and cold, raging with anger, almost demonic.
Yes, nature is within us all. When you begin to realise that, you allow yourself to get absorbed in its wholeness, and fear it no more.
That’s exactly when nature transforms you, when it shows you that you are not here alone. You are indeed part of the whole, connected to this universe in a way that you haven’t even experienced yet.
We can fear nature, but we can also derive strength from it. And that’s why we must experience it as deeply, and as often as we can. We must disconnect from our busy city lives, and seek remote places that connect us to ourselves and to the larger whole.
Nature nurtures and transforms us, encouraging us to outdo ourselves… Just one more step, and you reach the next magnificent viewpoint, witnessing the magic of the universe!
The biggest gift, I received from the mountains, was the inspiration to dream again, and dream big…
Every time you scale higher and look below, you realise you can do it. All you need to do is put your head down, concentrate, follow the path, and take one more step.
A fellow trekker gave me the wisest advice for trekking and life — a cliche, but it fit perfectly — ‘Just keep walking, because the minute you stop, fear will set in.’
How often has fear paralysed us from taking that important step… A step that could show us something completely different — a new place, new person, new experience, new talent, new victory, or a new side of ourselves!
But, if you keep walking, and trust the next step you take, you will see views unlike any you’ve seen before.
As you walk in the mountains, the past and the future, anxieties and worries, all begin to disappear. It’s almost like your whole life gets wiped out, and you only focus on the present moment.
These are not just moments of survival, but moments of meditation, that allow us to get in touch with ourselves…to unite with nature and bask in its benevolence.
Most importantly, these moments encourage us to dream…because only if you ‘keep walking’, will you reach your final destination!
The article was first published on Common Sense Living, a digital publication with new-age lifestyle and wealth-building ideas.
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