How often does it happen that a simple event that happens in your life changes your perspective about life How often does it happen that an episode of your life changes your perspective completely? The new vision replaces the beliefs you had for years’ you gain. When such a thing happens in life, I think we should hold onto it. Because that is the ‘real Education’. My first trek experience was just the same: life-changing.
For 22 years of my life, I had stayed in one city, always done the same thing, and never broke out to explore anything. My parents’ obsession with academics kept me rooted in one place: Home.
Until one fine day, when I had just started earning myself. A promise I made to myself hit me with a jolt- A self-promise to go on a Himalayan trek. That got me charged, and in all the secrecy (no way my parents were going to allow me to go miles away with an unknown group!)
So in the scorching heat of April, I set out on a train journey with a backpack probably more than my weight, trying to fight the twist in my stomach due to fear, anxiety, and the first attempt at being an outright rebel.
One day before my departure, all I expected was to come back in one piece.
1. You don’t Know a Thing About Yourself
Having never tried anything out of the place, I always had a nagging belief that I myself don’t know who I am. I didn’t
Having never tried anything out of place, I always had a nagging belief that I didn’t know who I was. How would I react to living with 39 unknown people for 12 days? The only thing I knew was, being an introvert, I wouldn’t be judged a lot since all are strangers! The fear twisting my intestines vanished after the first hour with everyone on the train. Huh! So travelling with strangers is not bad after all. Just new.
When a girl living in 20 to 40 degrees Celcius suddenly moves into -3 to 6, she is bound to wear and tear some of her mental muscles.
Every new conversation made me question of my ideologies. Every sight of something new introduced me to the vastness of our world. Every step I took made me more aware of myself.
2. The Value of Small Things
On our way to the peak, I realized that very few things matter to us. Like, that pack of biscuits or a handful of chocolates that sound so trivial but made the challenging climb possible. Sitting on a rock by the mountain while resting, a sip of water is the most heavenly possession you have. We are tamed to believe that for our life to be worthy, we need to be chasing expensive material things that exist. Little do we pause to value the smallest of our blessings.
Also read: Lockdown lessons I learnt in 2020
3. Gratitude
Before this trek, I had never been into any sort of adventure or challenged myself to this extent. But walking, climbing the mountains, and. Working against the gravity to climb the hills made me grateful for every breath I took. Every breeze that flew made trekking so easy. After a long walk of 4-5 hours, that simple food was a God’s gift to me. The Himalayan people were so friendly and caring that they felt like a different breed of humans.
With every step, my mind started opening up. I’d look down the hill and realize that one obtuse-placed foot is all it would take to end my existence. I had discovered the value of the gift I already have- a healthy, resourceful Life. The Himalayan mountains taught gratitude to this girl.
4. Just Breathe
There are so many futile things that we worry about every day. No? But the mountains have taught me a simple trick. To get rid of our worries, all we need to do is, BREATHE. A deep one. It sounds ridiculous even as I write, but it’s the most basic yet the most effective thing to do. Just breathe. Keep moving at your own pace. Live in the moment. Tackle that present moment. One step at a time. Rest a bit, walk a bit. Eventually, you will get there!
5. Risk is the Essence of Life
On the second day of our trek, I’d take frequent pauses to rest and look around. The massive mountains covered in Alpines, the soothing breeze on my face, and the soft sun. I would have missed out on such a great deal of learning, fulfilment, and true happiness had I not taken this risk.
The minor tweaks that this trek made in me wouldn’t have happened if I had feared my parents’ disapproval. Taking thoughtful, calculated risks, challenging your comfort zone every now and then is the only way to grow. We are taught to seek stability and settlement in life, but change is the only constant that we should strive for.
Do read about my first jungle safari here!
6. Its Okay to Not Fit In
While trekking, people would talk and giggle and have their kind of fun. But I loved my solitude walk, singing songs, watching birds, gazing at the tall mountains and sometimes joining in the talks and giggles. I had a different kind of fun. That doesn’t mean it was wrong, just different.
Having different opinions, choosing a different path is something that we look down upon. But we need to shed our “What people will say” attitude. Life is too short for that, and there’s so much good that we could do if we can just “be ourselves”.
7. Do Not Label People
On our last day climbing up, we were at 6000 mt height. The peak was only half an hour away, which we were supposed to ascend the next day. But the climate altered mysteriously. There was a sudden chill in the atmosphere. The clouds came out of nowhere and started running a marathon. The sun went into hiding, and it started raining. The cold got worse. The temperature started dropping to minus with furious cold winds and heavy rains.
We layered on as many clothes as possible and held onto our hot tea and coffee mugs dearly. We fought to be nearer to the only source of the heat-the stove. There was no improvement in the climate at night, so we crawled into our tents. Since my tent was leaking we decided to take refuge in our neighbouring tent. Four of us girls shared a 2-person’s tent while nature was playing its own games outside.
The cold must have been messing with our brains because why else would four girls giggle and laugh uncontrollably??
I stuck my hand out of our tent a while later to check on the rain. It wasn’t raining, but something else happened at that moment. I withdrew my hand only to see white, soft stuff on my hand. It took us all a while to realize what it was.
SNOW!!! When we least expected it! When nobody of the 30-40 people were awake. When nobody of us had ever seen SNOW in our lives!!
We had tears in our eyes. It feels absurd now, but I presume the firsts are memorable. So was our first snowfall. We had a group tent-hug, laughing, mumbling, crying, all together.
We came out. It didn’t matter that it was freezing cold, the temperature was already running sub-zeroes, and nobody else was awake. At that moment, it felt strange- like a lot of things shattered within me. The doors I had built within to shield myself from the unknown, the guilt of not living my dream life, the blame cards I kept on playing- everything seemed to melt away in the snow. There was a drastic change in me. A massive one, like the Himalayan mountains.
I realized people behave as per their circumstances. Their actions of the moment do not define them. We tend to label people as per their roles and then expect a particular set of things from them. We barely see people as – just PEOPLE. We label them as a mother, father, teacher, etc. We forget that they are HUMANS first. Humans who are bound to make mistakes. That forgiveness is not for others but for your own good. Unless you forgive, you can’t walk ahead.
As long as my life goes, I will be grateful for that first trek I did, the first train I took with 40 unknown people, and the first mountain climb – I cannot pinpoint, but I am sure as hell that it did change my perspective, my course of life, for good.
And you, what is your life-changing story?
