Cheryl hiked the entire AT over four years. Marked by interruptions from hurting knees and caring for her aging father, she had many opportunities to transform her fears, her discomforts, her concerns as she held fast to her dream of walking the Appalachian Trail. I met Cheryl as she prepared for her (third) year. She knew that she needed a change in perspective going back out to complete the White Mountains of New Hampshire. She remembers her feeling of pain and disappointment mixed in with the urgency of finding her way off the trail. Something she said in the women’s group motivated me to reach out to her and she responded. We talked! I could help her stay focused, have tools to transform her disappointment, stay true to her dream while also being available to care for her aged and ailing father. Her dad urged her to hike. It was her knees that drove her off. That year, she used yoga and nutrition to heal and strengthen her body. She returned to the trail. Again, the challenges of pain and responsibility cut her walk short. In Palmerton, PA she posted in the women’s group about her anxiety summiting the steep, rugged climb out of Lehigh Gap, a notorious obstacle for many AT hikers. I wrote, “You get to choose each step’s difficulty one at a time. What if you choose each step to be easy?” She now remembers that climb being easy and surprisingly quick. “I heard your voice, Regina, saying “make each step mindful. And I did that! That was my method of continuing that year. And I made it to Katahdin!”
Cheryl used at least four tools to stay focused physically and mentally. 1. Repeating her son’s confident affirmation, “Mom, you’ve got this!” 2. Hearing Regina’s voice saying, “Your get to choose each step. Make each one mindful.” 3. She talked to her knees like faithful companions, helping her fulfill her dream. “You are strong. You are flexible. You have trained. You can do this.” 4. She talked with her angels to give guidance, comfort, support, and assurance.
Cheryl’s conscious use of affirmations and confidence-building fueled and sustained her walk during that fourth section. “I was not giving up. I had to finish this goal before I could move on to something else. These practices made the difference between quitting and fulfilling my dream in a satisfying way.”
“What you told me made the biggest difference in how I was able to keep going. What you know is needed, especially by older women trying to hike the trail. When I was hiking, I saw lots of older men but not women. But I know there are older women who want to hike the trail. But, we need something different. What you know, Regina, is the key for women!”