How many things do you really remember?
While traveling the 4 hour road trip one of my friends couldn’t believe we didn’t do this type of thing more often. That perhaps we had wasted our teenage years not exploring enough. We live so close, yet I(we) had never been to climb this mountain.
I too at times, have wondered how many adventures I might have missed over the years. It’s so easy to get caught up in what you could have done. The thing is, the more you think about the “way it could have been” the more those thoughts begin to take hold. Those thoughts can paralyselize you from taking action. The day you decide to start - is the exactly the right time. Everybody develops 20/20 hindsight but that doesn’t mean you have to use it.
We were on route to Snowdon the highest mountain in Wales. Snowdon sits at an elevation of 1,085 metres - nothing too taxing but not a park walk either. Boy had we picked a peach of a day to climb.
Some memories are sparked from seemingly nothingness - a totally freak incident that you’ll never forget, everybody has these. You can wait for these. But I prefer not to leave my memories to chance. You can purpose build lasting memories. I know I won’t be forgetting Sunday 5th of April 2015 anytime soon.
We reached the summit of Snowdon at 9:15 just in time to see the remains of a glorious sunset and the rising of an equally spectacular blood moon. The night was clear. A few hours in we started watching Interstellar - because what’s better than watching a movie about space under a blanket of stars atop a mountain?
A few thoughts
It was really cold. Might be worth taking some extra socks and maybe some trousers.
I realised I should remember to stop and appreciate that I have the physical ability to climb a mountain. Not everybody is capable of such physical exertion. While I work hard on my fitness I am also grateful I have no serious ailments that would stop me from such adventures. Appreciate what you have.
Did I mention It was really cold.
As I was drinking some terrible cafetiere coffee it reminded me of the idea that ‘this isn’t the worst it will be’. Perhaps a weird sentiment while watching an incredible sunrise. Whenever you are faced with something you think kind of sucks I like to reminded myself we actually have it pretty good. If you choose the path of adventure, in the future you will probably end up being colder than you are right now; you’ll probably end up somewhere where you’re drinking worse coffee. Enjoy what you have. This is a simple idea but can snap you out of negativity if used to see your current situation as a relative positive.
Honestly I thought I might be coming back with less toes at one point. It was seriously cold.
A spectacular sunrise, I don’t think you can ever get enough of those.
When was the last thing you did something crazy? Something that pushed you? Something you have no chance of forgetting? I challenge you to make today/tomorrow/this week stand out from all the others.
I just turned 25, some people might say this is ‘getting old’ I say I’m just getting started.
