Over the last 3-4 years, we'd hiked a lot around Mt. Rainier. We were awe struck by the magnificence of the mountain, madly in love with it. To us, the mountain was god .... and its pinnacle the holy grail. To me, the hike to Mt. Rainier summit was a pilgrimage that every Seattelite must undertake atleast once in his/her life.
Earlier this year, an opportunity knocked. Asha, a non profit organization, were providing a guided climb for interested folks in July. The hike to the summit is not easy though. As a matter of fact, its not a hike at all. Its a climb: Hike is non-technical, just normal walking on slightly steeper topographies, with no special gear requirement. Climbing is technical, requires special gear, and special training to learn how to use the gear. Mt. Rainier climb requires gaining considerable fitness, which in turn requires a 6-month training regime. Team Asha guides required a firm Yes/No confirmation about commitment to climb with them this year, by the first week of May
It was the 4th of May, I remember, and I was still pondering whether or not to commit to the climb. During our CrossRoads lunch hour, I tried to persuade my hiking enthusiastic friends into committing to the climb. If they were in for the plan, the decision would have been a no brainer: I would have had to do it then because they were doing it, peer pressure you see :). But turned out, that for various reasons, they did not want to commit to the climb this year.
So then, the ball was in my court and I had to again put on my decision making hat. I began to ponder: Given that my friends were not doing it, should I back out as well? Or should I do it alone? Do I have it in me to train day in day out every weekend for the next 3 months? Do I have the time, is there enough motivation?
Mind you though, I was already half way there. Since February, I had been hiking on weekends to gain fitness, so why was it going to be very different doing the same thing between May to July? One difference was commitment pressure: Hiking without commitment is similar to dating a girl or having a live in relationship, hiking with commitment is like marriage :). Second difference was the circumstances. I thought things had changed a bit between January and May.
Mind you though, I was already half way there. Since February, I had been hiking on weekends to gain fitness, so why was it going to be very different doing the same thing between May to July? One difference was commitment pressure: Hiking without commitment is similar to dating a girl or having a live in relationship, hiking with commitment is like marriage :). Second difference was the circumstances. I thought things had changed a bit between January and May.
Coming to the point though, I was still confused, not sure about what I should do. I thought long and hard, and eventually came to a conclusion. Firstly, I'd always thought that I was mentally strong enough to survive any situation, mentally I wouldn't break easily. Now if I could also gain the toughness to brave any physical challenges, then I thought that the combination would help me survive anything/anywhere. Secondly, I'd always wanted to let go of this thing called peer pressure. I thought now it was even more imperative for me to not base decisions on others, one should learn to survive and thrive on his/her own if need be. And then finally, I always desperately wanted to summit Mt. Rainier some day. Then why not this year! I had already done the hard work of gaining fitness the past 3 months, and had the time (and fortunately the money) to practice more now. It was just a question of having the discipline to follow a strict regime for the next 3 months, which was also anyway a need of the hour for me.
The decision was made. The commitment forms were submitted.
On one hand, I was confident that the decision was the right one because it was made rationally, with sound intent, and keeping the right principles in mind. But admittedly, from the core of my heart, I was still feeling apprehensive and scared of doing this alone. But then again, brain was the boss here. For a change, I kept my heart at bay and let my brain do the thinking. Something that I should have learnt to do years back.
On one hand, I was confident that the decision was the right one because it was made rationally, with sound intent, and keeping the right principles in mind. But admittedly, from the core of my heart, I was still feeling apprehensive and scared of doing this alone. But then again, brain was the boss here. For a change, I kept my heart at bay and let my brain do the thinking. Something that I should have learnt to do years back.
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