EXPECTATIONS

20 Sep

Expectations are a dangerous thing; when reality doesn’t meet up with our preconceived notions we are hurdled into that disequilibrium manifest as stress. When the weather doesn’t allow for our plans, we are disappointed. When traffic stops us from getting somewhere on time, we are frustrated. When put too far out of our comfort zone we even begin to feel threatened. This is precisely the reason that leaving the creature comforts of home to be “in the wilds” on a through-hike is such an enlivening experience.

After the latest and greatest gear is purchased, and the itinerary is calculated to the day or even hour, there is still that invariable that humans cannot overcome, the natural world. Winter snows and spring runoffs are indifferent to the start date of a JMT hiker. Marmots and bears show no interest in the carefully planned food rationing of a through-hiker. Certainly, mosquitoes couldn’t care less for the comfort of tired hiker who has finally made it to camp at that expected picturesque lake.

And yet, it is that uncertainty that makes a long hike so incredibly life changing. When stripped of the control that we so meticulously build into our daily lives we are freed to live in the moment that presents itself. The sterility of having each moment planned out is washed away in the crossing of a swollen creek, or having to pick M&M’s out of the dirt from a leaky bag. The day becomes dictated by factors beyond set routines. Consequences for choices and actions are genuine and ultimately graver. And as the hiker embraces letting go, there is the profound realization that pure happiness comes with what is given rather than what is taken.