Why do you do it?
bythemethod | March 20, 2009My youngest son asked me the other day: “why do you go walking?” He meant why do I get pleasure out of slogging my way through an area of wilderness. You should know that I love to go walking on Dartmoor and from time to time make some of my children go with me.
At the time he asked the question we were just trying to climb a very steep hill and we didn’t seem to be getting anywhere with it.
My answer was simple enough – because I enjoy it.
I tried to explain to him that I was not saying that I liked sweating and panting up hills (this is tough for anyone) but that I had learned how to get pleasure from the experience. Some days in the wilderness life can be pretty tough. Heavy rain and driving wind with no sign of shelter is both horrible and great at the same time. There is something about being pushed and tested that can actually be pleasurable.
I guess if this were not true then no one would be involved in any kind of sport.
It’s also true that you can learn a great deal about yourself at such times. You learn that you are capable of far more than you ever believed was possible. You learn about patience and persistance. There are so many lessons to learn.
Then when you reach the top and you look down the hill and see how far you have come you feel wonderful. What a view.
Then its a quick look at the map and on to the next hill.
I’d encourage anyone to find the same kind of challenging enterprise in their own life. Find something to do where you have to push yourself to your limits and beyond. You never know you might actually enjoy it.
