“Life is a cycle, Living is not." -Me
Recently, my friend Matt and I hiked a
trail in the Dandenong Ranges called the Thousand Steps, a name that
is more likely poetic than fact. The trail, as its name suggests, is
a little over a kilometer in length and consists most entirely of
steps that delve ever upward into the hills. The climb is rather
rigorous considering its relatively short distance. It is said to
provide a small glimpse of the physical effort taken by the
Australian Soldiers in 1942, during the Japanese invasion.
Whether the rigor of the climb was
brought on by the difficulty of this particular Kokada* trail, by the
heat of the day, or by my dwindled level of fitness, is of little
value (I suspect it was a combination of all three). However, the
lessons the trail imparted were of great importance. Much of
living is learning the lessons within, around and beneath each
experience. However deeply we explore each new experience determines
what we shall get from this life.
There are a certain set of muscles one uses when climbing a steep incline that are very rarely used in every
day life. If I were a biologist, or some sort of medical
practitioner, I would name them for you, but alas, I only have a
rudimentary knowledge of the human body. Given the comforts of our
age, these upward motions, these muscles, are not overly necessary
for daily movement. Thus, they fall into disuse, and so when facing a
new challenge or hardship before us, such as climbing a thousand,
near vertical steps, it is more than a little difficult to overcome them.
All because of a simple lack of muscle. Most of us go through our
entire lives never exercising these muscles, simply because they are
not a necessity for living. Lest we forget, not all muscles are made up
of up tissues and fibers.
This particular trail I am traveling has
brought an awareness of many new or unused muscles. The life I was living before fit well enough that I had no desire or need to use them, and no overwhelming reason to build them either. Setting myself on this track has forced me to. Many of these muscles revolve around
building, such as building relationships, or building a home,
building networks, or building courage. Others are more personal,
patience, compassion, kindness. Some were hidden behind friends and
family, and comfort, and many were because I was never in a situation
that required their use, until now.
It has been difficult training,
retraining, and building these muscles of mine, both used and unused, both physical and abstract.
I can most certainly tell you that I have a long way to go, but I've started working them out. After all, I have already taken the
first step, and as the trail has taught me, it's just a matter of
continuing to move one foot in front of the other, not being
ashamed to pause for a breather when needed.
It is a matter of coincidence, and
humor, that upon arriving at the top, Matt realized that we had not
even been climbing the thousand steps, but another, slightly longer,
though equally as steep, trail. It is nice to know that there is more
than one path to whatever destination we seek.
We hiked down the thousand steps.
*Kokoda - Referring to the four month battle of the Kokoda track between the Japanese and Allied forces.
