23August2010
Anything We Set Our Hearts To
Posted by Robin Easton under: Hobnobbin' with Robin.
What dream or life experience might you have dropped along the roadside, believing you couldn’t do it because you weren’t good enough, smart enough, strong enough, it was too drastic a life change, people might think you were crazy, your family wouldn’t approve, you felt you were too old, too young, and so on? Let that question just sit a minute…
Lately I’ve been blessed to have glimpses into another world, one that could seem to some as almost “other worldly” compared to the life so many people choose to live. I’ve been reading about and gasping over the photos of two amazing friends, Stacey Mathews and Bernie Krausse. (Cli
ck names to visit their sites.) They just returned from hiking the entire Appalachian Trail (AT), approximately 2,179 miles from Georgia to Maine, and are now settling back into life in beautiful Washington state. I highly recommend you take time to check out the links on Bernie’s site (click his name above). Those links will take you to astounding photos of the journey that Stacey and Bernie embarked on this past spring.
Now, there’s a reason I am telling you about them. Imagine hiking day after day, week after week, month after month, through woods, across fields, climbing over boulders, wading across streams, trekking up mountains (whole mountain ranges), in rain, sun, wind, thunder storms, possible spring or autumn snow storms, going THOUSANDS of miles, one foot at a time. Occasionally you run into other hikers, or hit a town near the trail and rest a bit and then carry on.
Now also imagine hiking the entire Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), which is 2,650-miles long and goes from Mexico to Canada, through California, Oregon and Washington. Imagine then hiking most of the Continental Divide Trail, which is 3,100 miles and runs between Mexico and Canada, along the Continental Divide along the Rocky Mountains, through 5 US states, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado and New Mexico. Then imagine hiking the Appalachian Trail twice (which I think Bernie has done.) And add to that various shorter hikes and you have walked thousands and thousands of miles.
Stacey once commented on a post I did titled, Become the Journey; she said, “Seven years ago I would have never imagined that by the year 2010 I would be able to say I have hiked over 6,000 miles. We can accomplish anything we set our hearts to!” (Notice she said “hearts”). So if we take her 6,000 miles and add to it her recent 2,179 mile Appalachian Trail hike, Stacey has walked well over 8,000 miles. And Bernie may have walked more if he has done the AT trail twice. Regardless, after that many miles it doesn’t matter. The point is that they both have walked THOUSANDS of miles. I can hardly comprehend that. I want to jump up and down, and cheer, and clap, and hug them, for this courageous, “out of the box”, 
life journey that they have lived. Bernie and Stacey inspire me to tear away the veils, to wake up, to push away the self-imposed limits, set myself free and LIVE.
Now, back to the question I asked: “What dream or life experience might you have dropped along the roadside, believing you couldn’t accomplish it because you weren’t good enough, smart enough, strong enough, it was too drastic a life change, people might think you were crazy, your family wouldn’t approve, you felt you were too old, too young, and so on?” Like Stacey said (this is my version), “Seven years ago I would never have imagined that by the year 2010 that I would have written and published a book, Naked in Eden, that would be on Amazon.com and in Borders, etc. Life is amazing if you keep putting one foot in front of the other. The only thing that stops us is if we stop walking.
Often when we move toward a dream we can feel like we’re crazy, over reacting, extreme and unrealistic. And we should just settle down. Do you know why this is? I learned many years ago that it was because often our dreams live far outside the narrow box that we’re familiar with, far outside social conditioning. Dreams are like freedom; they will not be tamed or diminished. If we want to live our dreams, we often have to go to where dreams live….beyond our comfort zone.
So dare to be at times a bit crazy, extreme, and a touch unrealistic. Dare to be sensitive, vulnerable and fully alive. All great dreamers, all great achievers head into the Unknown. And they too at times wonder if they’re “mad”. It is that sense of feeling “mad” the drives us–tail between our legs–back into our tiny corner, where Life is diminished. Our dreams will not follow us there…because dreams never die. So be brave my friends. Be bold. Recognize “madness” for what it is, and LIVE. I believe in you.
“Therefore, it may be time to embark on some meaningful and mystical journey that is to help shape and redefine your life forever to come.” ~ Bernie Krausse
Bernie and Stacey I applaud you.
Love,
Robin
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This Site: © Robin Easton
Website: http://www.nakedineden.com
Blog:http://nakedineden.com/nakedinedenblog/
