Recap from the weekend of 9/7

If you didn't know the weekend of September 7th, I took a group hiking at Old Rag Mountain in Sperryville, VA.  If you don't know where it is, I've attached the link to get to the National Park Service's site.  As you read through the description of this hike it incites fear or excitement in some first time goers.  The thing that seems to consistently resonate on a year in and year out basis is the wonder of "if I'm able to complete this hike".  The entire trip to the mountain, one of my riders kept asking me if I thought he could do this hike and I kept telling him, "it doesn't matter because you're here now".  The truth of the matter is, we can do ANYTHING we want to if we set our minds to accomplish it.  All we have to do is set our foot forward one in front the other and actually start!

I enclosed a video of pictures from the hike so you can see for yourself what we saw.  The difficulties of this hike are well worth the views and comradery that comes with making this trek up the mountain.

The parallels of the hike to our health journey or life journey are so similar.  We learned that:

1. You can do anything you set your mind to!!! Whether you're forced to do it or do so volunteerily, you can do it!!! Fear often limits us, we must overcome it and move forward for allowing fear to overcome us is often the ultimate failure.  
2. You don't have to accomplish it all at once, it takes one small step forward regularly to accomplish your goals. Don't stop moving forward!! If you keep that in mind you will always be one step closer to your goal and one step further from what you were!
3. You have friends along the way...people you know and don't know are there to encourage you! Make your journey known so that people will be there to help push you through
4. You are an inspiration.  You inspire others in your journey, you may not know who you influence but people are always watching.  Someone may have needed to see that someone else like them can do it in order for them to start their journey and you may be that someone.
5. Understand that you HAVE to PUSH YOUR LIMITS! You shouldn't be at the same place you were last week, month, or year! Yes things take time, but for example if this year you ran a quarter of a mile nonstop, by the following year you should be running at LEAST one mile nonstop barring injury/sickness.  

Have a good week and keep climbing upwards towards your goals!!!