Thoughts and Reflections of Trek

The more time that passes from the trek the more I learn.

I have thought a lot about those moments where I was so tired and discouraged.  Those times where I was so weak and unsure if I could keep going.  My "family" was literally walking 10-15 steps and resting, then making another goal to walk 10-15 more steps.  It was so HARD!  What kept me going was the people around me.  People with positive attitudes and good perspective.  It was amazing to me how just one person making a negative comment about how hard things were could really bring me down.  On the other hand when other fellow trekkers said "come on, you can do this." I felt stronger.

The same is true in life.  Whether it is one of those times in life where you think you can't go another step or whether it is just an ordinary time, the people you have surrounding you make a big difference.  It is so important to have examples of faithful and righteous people around.  Negative and unfaithful people can way us down.

Another thought:

Because of the heat I was feeling a little sick.  Several people had already thrown up and I was determined to not join them. I was walking super slow and feeling sooo tired.   Up walked one of the youth from another family (and from my home ward).  She was in tears and talking a mile a minute about how her life back home was so tough.  I thought to myself, " Oh no, I can not handle this right now. I am just too tired."  I knew that I had no choice really. I needed to listen so I quickly put my game face on and started to listen.  As she continued to tell me her many woes I soon noticed that my stomach was feeling better.

Sometimes when we are struggling, serving someone else is what can make us feel better.  I was able to take my mind off myself and help another.

Another thought:

Towards the end of the first night and very long day our family was pulling the cart super slow.  We were the last family on the trail and were a good 20-30 minutes behind the others.  I was kind of embarrassed that our family was LAST and LATE.   I had to keep fighting back thoughts like:  I didn't prepare enough. I am such a wimp.  I wish I were more athletic like some of the other ma and pa's. The other Ma and Pa's are better, I never saw them struggling like I am.   We finally made it into camp and the others cheered for us.  I was so happy to be done and could not move for over and hour. I was spent!

As the ma and pa's discussed later the different challenges their families had I realized that our family had much more of a physical challenge.  Our family was really good at staying positive and encouraging each other but several of our kids were hit hard by the heat.  3 of our 4 boys stopped pushing half way through the day because they were exhausted and several of our girls did as well.  At one point Lance was pulling our handcart alone.  Maybe, I wasn't as weak as I had thought. In fact maybe I was strong.  Our challenge was a physical one for sure.  The truth is, the other families did struggle, I just didn't see them. And although the other families struggled with challenges they weren't always physical.  My feelings changed to being proud because we were so strong.  We were stronger than we had given ourselves credit  for.

It is easy to look at others and compare.  From the outside things may look like they are the same,  which is usually not accurate. It is easy to get down and let your own insecurities get the best of you.  Just do your best and don't compare yourself to others.

I heard a talk by Sheri Dew( I just love her) were she talked about the pioneer women.  Although. we know that they were amazing and super faithful women they probably didn't think they were doing a very good job.  Just like the pioneers we may not see how amazing we really are.