Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Let's Find a Mountain to Climb

I hate being bored or sitting still for too long. Meaning about ten minutes. I like multi tasking, listening to music while studying; doing needlepoint while watching a movie or listening to music; working two jobs while going to school full time; taking on a subject to study just because it sounds like a fun challenge. If I'm not intimidated by a project or find it pushing me hard enough I'll get bored and drop it. It was slightly problematic in high school, especially with subjects I didn't like, but now it's just plain fun. The first thought that goes into my head when I see a big tree or a mountain is "how pretty", followed by "now let's climb it!". To make it more fun, even if there's a clearly marked path, I'll usually be the stubborn idiot that goes for the hardest possible way to get to the top. I mean that both literally and figuratively. If I'm in a slump, I'll go for a drive and look for a mountain to climb to clear my head. It was a lot easier when I lived in Wyoming and it was a fifteen minute drive to get into the wilderness (no exaggeration) and the mountains I climbed with my family when I was younger.

My thought today was that this experience has been one of those times where "Be careful what you wish for" comes into play. I didn't mean it this literally!!!

Oh well. I wanted an all consuming challenge...can't complain now that I've gotten it. Or at least I can't complain too often. Or loudly. Maybe once in a while under my breath.

One of my biggest goals is to beat my body into submission so that I can climb mountains again in the strictly physical (or intellectual. Just NOT medical.) sense. And go to warm places with gorgeous beaches. The outdoors are so important to me. Either my body lets me explore and play and learn about new cultures and religions and languages (and DANCE! Cultural dance is so incredibly fascinating and gorgeous and wonderful.) or I'll go back to the stubborn idiot mode, go anyway and deal with the feeling like crap consequences after.

When my mom was my age, she went to Fiji and the Solomon Islands. It's always been a kind of fantasy of mine that I'd have a destination wedding in Fiji. At the very least I'd like to go there with my family.

One of the problems of stubborn me is that I don't want to go to a country without knowing the language first. I really don't want to be the stereotypical American tourist who expects everything to be in English and American sized. I want to honor the country's history, their religion and their unique culture. I don't want to do tourist-y things, I'm interested in the reality of the location. Realistically, I know that there's no way I can learn every language I want to, but I can sure as h*ll try!

One step at a time.

Patience.

Ha.

Mountains!

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