Last weekend, I attempted the 3 Peaks Challenge* – ascending Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon, the highest mountains in Scotland, England and Wales respectively. During the trip, and while pushing myself to get up (and down), I learned some things about myself, and the world. These I’ll be sharing here in a series of blogs over the course of this week.
Still Day one: still Ben Nevis. So, Pere was setting a stiff pace, focused on keeping us as close to schedule as he could after the delays at the start, and by about half-way I was starting to flag. So, surprisingly, was Maike – she’s pretty fit, walks a lot and dances, so I was surprised to be catching her up.
I lent her one of my hiking poles, and an arm, and we plodded on. And here’s Lesson Two: sometimes we can gain energy by giving it away. My focus on supporting and encouraging Maike shifted my attention away from my fatigue and low spirits, and I felt my own energy lift as I ‘lent’ some to my team-mate.
Mind you, I was very pleased when Pere came back to join us and took over supporting Maike through her temporary dip! Helping her may have given me a lift, but the climb was far from finished!
Stay tuned for the next blog, and another lesson …
* Lite version, over 2 days.
