Making Molehills out of Mountains

"My father considered a walk among the mountains as the equivalent of churchgoing."  ~Aldous Huxley


I went hiking last Sunday, and it was wonderful. No, really. I was able to get out so much anger and frustration and have some really good alone time. 


I am a self-proclaimed anti-hiker, but so many people love it, and I'm living in a valley, for god's sake, so why not give it a try? So I did. I went on about a three hour hike, and I didn't love every minute of it, but I didn't hate every minute of it either. 


I'm slowly beginning to grasp why it is so popular. One reason is obvious: It's healthy and produces endorphines that make you happy. But my favorite part was just sitting at the top and looking out over Geochang and feeling completely free and relaxed. While at the top, I relaxed and had a picnic and read. Ahhh...nothing better than reading without any distractions from the rest of the world. It was so simple, but I constantly forget the best things in life are. 


It was also very nice hiking alone. It was my first time to hike alone, and it's my cup of tea. I like to go at my own pace. And while I would not call myself a gloomy gus, I'm definitely not what one would call a giant ray of sunshine. I can only take so much perkiness, and I definitely don't want to engage in perky small talk while hauling my fat butt up a mountain. "Yes, I see the beautiful trees. It's wonderful to be surrounded by nature. It's all very majestic. Now, for the love of all things holy, stop talking,  so I can enjoy it!" (typical inner monologue)


I'm going to challenge myself to pick a new area to hike each week. There are few really nice mountains behind my dormitory that I would like to take advantage of in the morning before work, to clear my head and meditate. 


Laziness is an easy and vicious cycle, but "The time will come when winter will ask you what you were doing all summer.  ~Henry Clay"


I want to say "Winter, I was absorbing all the world has to offer and making molehills out of mountains!"

A vigorous five-mile walk will do more good for an unhappy but otherwise healthy adult than all the medicine and psychology in the world.  ~Paul Dudley White



Me thinks that the moment my legs begin to move, my thoughts begin to flow.  ~Henry David Thoreau

Climb the mountains and get their good tidings.  Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees.  The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves.  ~John Muir


Nothing like a nighttime stroll to give you ideas.  ~J.K. Rowling, "The Egg and The Eye," Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, 2000, spoken by the character Mad-Eye Moody


People say that losing weight is no walk in the park.  When I hear that I think, yeah, that's the problem.  ~Chris Adams


How can you explain that you need to know that the trees are still there, and the hills and the sky?  Anyone knows they are.  How can you say it is time your pulse responded to another rhythm, the rhythm of the day and the season instead of the hour and the minute?  No, you cannot explain.  So you walk.  ~Author unknown, from New York Times editorial, "The Walk," 25 October 1967

I haven't got any special religion this morning.  My God is the God of Walkers.  If you walk hard enough, you probably don't need any other god.  ~Bruce Chatwin,In Patagonia, 1977

My grandmother started walking five miles a day when she was sixty.  She's ninety-three today and we don't know where the hell she is.  ~Ellen DeGeneres

(personal favorite)