Reset

This isn't necessarily about the AT, but it's related.

It was just about a year ago that I stepped foot on the Appalachian Trail.  This is a reflection on that past year of changes. It was a sunny, partly cloudy day and I had absolutely zero clue how the next few months would really shape my future.  Honestly, I didn't even know what was going on that day.  It was such a blur. When I summited Katahdin, it was such a mix of emotions.  Happiness, sadness, euphoria, joy, hunger, and pain.  It was the culmination of 2 years of hard work, planning, and perseverance.

I've always been a risk taker.  I hate being stagnant.  Childhood was filled with crashed bikes, scrapes, bruises, and getting stuck in tall trees.  To this day, I still can't grow any hair on my knees from all of the falls, and each of the scars has a story.  All of these experiences culminated in that day.

As I look back on the past year, a lot of things have changed.  Finishing the trail has given me a new lease of life.  Like hitting that reset button you've been meaning to hit for the last few years, but never being able to touch it.  I will be forever grateful for it.

For years I struggled with gaining weight.  I put my job, career, and future first.  I justified bad habits for success.  I mean really, who has time to make a healthy meal when you're trying to organize, sort, normalize, and quantify thousands of GIS data points in search of a worthy Master's/PhD program.  Chips, energy drinks, and shitty pre-made food became my life blood.  I had terrible work/life balance.  You can't relax and unwind when somebody's vomiting in the hallway and you're the only RA around.  You can't go to sleep at 3am when somebody comes to you and tells you they're thinking about suicide.  It wasn't a healthy lifestyle, but I justified it for the resume.  As my weight ballooned from a healthy freshman year running weight, I grew complacent; I was okay with being stagnant.  I justified making sacrifices in health for the future.  And how did that turn out?  

I decided that I wasn't even going to pursue higher ed.  Oops.  

I joined AmeriCorps and went down a completely different direction.  Two years later, I had new outlooks, experiences, and goals.  I hiked the AT.  I finally got that rare chance.  I finally hit that reset button and put myself somewhere I actually wanted to be.  

Over the past year, I pummeled my weight into submission by dropping 70+ pounds,  I moved to Denver, and I returned to having a social life.  I'm back to the place I wanted to be all those years ago.  While I'm forever appreciative of the experiences that I had in college, that really prepared me for AmeriCorps, I'm glad I finally got the chance to reset the clock.  

2017 is looking to be a great year.  WEMT, roadtrips, outdoor educator courses, and a possible 100 mile thruhike.  I don't know everything in store for me right now, but I'm glad I finally had the chance to say reset!