Hiking a Way to Recharge Your Soul

Image sourced from theplanetd.com

At times, I struggle with the key question of life’s purpose. Life makes me question the point of striving and existence in any activity I do. I end up going down a deep rabbit hole of thoughts and emotions. 

In these moments, which occur more often than they should, I choose to step away and embark on a journey of just existing: I interrupt my everyday routine, seizing the day with a simple act of existing – nothing more, nothing less. 

It was September when I met my health and fitness teacher for the first time. She was a woman of many mysteries. In her spare time, she would go on 30-mile hikes, unlike me, filling in time with my usual naps and the phone. Despite being unmarried and without a family, she was utterly happy, evident from her constant smile. 

I mustered up the courage and asked her one day, “How are you so happy?” 

She simply replied, “Hiking.” 

I was in a depressed state, searching for a solution. And so I went out and actually found it. It was a different type of loneliness, a peaceful solitude. The birds chirping created a sense of connection, as if they were reaching out to talk to me. The world was so quiet and soft. There was no stress, no nagging to find a solution for all my problems. The hiking path compelled you to walk forward, never looking back, not wanting to. The sole desire was to reach your destination. 

That day, I found out that the solutions for my biggest problems are often the simplest fixes.

Hiking is not just walking up a hill or taking a run anywhere. It has become a world I created to navigate my life, a means to escape and to recharge my soul.