I am definitely not an outdoorsy type of person.
I blame it on growing up in San Francisco, California.
As I get older, I am intentional about stretching myself through new experiences.  Even though I am not the biggest fan of the great outdoors, I will go along on these adventures to learn more about myself and others.
My first major hike was Mission Peak in Fremont, California.  It’s one of the steepest hikes here in the Bay Area and it was a major challenge.  In fact, people warned us about how steep the hike was and the reviews I read online said it was H-A-R-D.
They did not lie because My legs were still sore a few days later!
Hiking gave me a fresh perspective on curiosity, doing hard things, and remembering to take a long-range perspective instead of being short-sighted.

The Case of the Curious Cows

As we descended the peak, we were met on the path by cows.
Now I should say that the people that went on this hike were all city people so we weren’t sure what to do.
We learned that Running away and screaming is probably not the best course of action. Luckily another hiker managed to get the cows off the path and we all continued to walk along.

Cows are curious creatures but I prefer to get out of their way and let them be curious without me!

That experience alone was worth going and doing something new!  San Francisco is strange but I don’t think I’ve ever been met by a curious cow.

Be Curious

We can learn a lesson from those cows about curiosity.  One of the reasons I believe our nation seems to have regressed in the intelligence and creative department is because we’ve lost our curiosity.
We believe we have all of the answers and there is no more to learn.
There is nothing like a once-in-a-generation pandemic to remind us that we don’t have all of the answers and we cannot control everything.
In order to learn and grow, we must be curious.  We need to ask questions and not blindly follow “experts”.
As a matter of fact, real experts like to answer questions because it allows them to teach what they’re passionate about. Experts grow stronger when challenged by naysayers.

Do The Hard Things

We can do hard things because we do hard things – Robin Arzon

One of my favorite Peloton instructors Robin said this in her class and I couldn’t agree more.

This is one of the benefits of working out.  When you do a challenging workout you feel AWESOME because you realize you can do it.  One of my favorite moments when training clients is when someone says, “I can’t do that” and then they do.  The absolute best is when someone says, “I can’t do it” WHILE THEY ARE DOING IT.

We’ve lived in a society that has been conditioned to give up when it gets hard, make excuses, take the easy way out, remain perpetually offended, and complain about minimal hardship.

It’s no wonder that when something really challenging came along like this pandemic that we were not able to cope or function.

I look at previous generations and they were able to make it through hard and challenging times because they didn’t have a choice.  I will say that one thing I have found very odd is how negative the messaging has been by public officials.

In other times of national crisis, there were messages of resilience and hope.  These days there seem to be more messages of doom, gloom, and darkness.  I’m not a fan of not facing reality and pretending everything is hunky-dory but I do believe that there needs to be a message of hope that we will all make it through this.

Our hike was a challenge.

Even when people didn’t think they would make it, they received encouragement and kept on climbing.  What a wonderful accomplishment to know that they finished the task set before them without quitting.

Doing hard things teaches us how not to quit which will build resilience.

2020 has been a challenge and while the messaging has trended toward doom and gloom, I want to encourage you not to quit.

I want you to know if we make it through 2020, then that’s proof that we can make it through challenging times.

The Long-Range Perspective

Hiking Mission Peak also gave me a fresh perspective on the Bay Area. I never would have seen the Bay Area from this vantage point had I not got out of my comfort zone to go hiking in the wilderness.

I am truly blessed to live in such a beautiful place and sometimes I take that for granted.  I saw the Bay Area through fresh eyes.  The view from the top of the mountain was breathtaking.

It was a challenge to get up there to the top but the view was well worth it

Fresh Vision and Views in 2020

2020 isn’t what any of us expected but I know it’s given many of us a new perspective.  Perhaps what’s most important is our community and not working ourselves to the bones to buy more crap.

It’s also given me a fresh viewpoint on certainty.  There is no such thing as certainty. Life can change in a moment.  One moment in March we were wondering about this virus from China and the next moment everything we knew had changed forever.

The top of the mountain provides the long-range viewpoint and gives a different perspective than the short-sighted viewpoint down in the valley.

I truly do believe that when this challenging time is over we will ALL have a different perspective on what exactly happened in 2020.

We will cross over and we will see things differently but for now, we just need to keep on climbing and not just remain stuck because we’re so short-sighted and reactive.

In the meantime, enjoy this beautiful picture of the SF Bay Area at Sunset.