Nidhi Kathuria

I was reading ‘The Healing Self’ by Deepak Chopra last night until 1 a.m. I am quite hooked onto the book. The case studies are amazing and are quite inspiring. I got up in the morning thinking that I should really do my hike today. It was pretty chilly outside but I still decided to step out. Filled my water bottle and took some almonds in my pocket and I was set!

I started walking on the trail and then reached the creek where water was gushing as if it has tremendous energy which we are all lacking. I kept walking and reached the north rim trail where the hike to eagle rock starts.

The trail was very muddy and wet. I could see a girl stopped few meters ahead of me. She was trying to clean her shoes. I quickly chatted with her and she told me that it rained at 3 am last night. Good I did not know this, else I would have never stepped out. My shoes were all muddy and I had to shake my legs every few steps to release the mud out of shoes. I looked down the mountain and I could see an old couple trying to hike. The lady used two sticks to walk but she still was climbing. That really inspired me. I said to myself that why am I worrying about the mud when life is so simple. I started ignoring the uneasiness and actually started enjoying shaking my legs. I completely forgot that wet mud was not supposed to be there on the trail. I just felt that this is part of the experience and I kept hiking. I hiked slowly and soon reached the eagle rock. I took in the top view and just breathed long. I sat on the chair and meditated for a while. It was one of the best mornings ever.

After I meditated for 10 mins, I started walking down. It was more slippery than  climbing up. But it did not bother me. I just kept going. And soon it ended. I feel blessed!

While I was walking down, a lot of people were trying to climb and were getting disturbed and asked me ‘is it wet all the way up?’. I said ‘No, it gets better after few 100 meters. And if I can do it, you could too.’ They smiled and kept going. Another girl was getting disturbed with her shoes and I told her ‘Don’t pay attention’ 🙂

The message for me this morning was that sometimes life throws difficulties in your path but you need to continue your journey. You can be aware of the difficulties but honestly you don’t need to pay attention to all of it. Just focus on your task and walk ahead. Mud, rain, are all part of the experience. Feel blessed and proud that you got this opportunity to discover yourself in these circumstances. Love yourself. Truly, madly, deeply 🙂