Pushing Through

Saturday, husband had a crazy idea of doing the Koko Head Crater trail. He's assisting me in trying to get healthy while he maintains his own fitness. The Koko Head trail would have been something I would normally work towards. Google it to see how people describe it. I googled it AFTER I actually went on the trail. Nothing can really prepare you for it either. None of the articles can do justice to the hike.

I am in terrible shape... physically. I am not as strong as I was in my twenties nor as limber but I'm always up for a physical challenge. This hike up Koko Head trail was exactly that! Even if you are physically fit, it will still be tougher than what you're doing in the gym. My husband? My husband is in excellent shape. He runs at least four miles a day... probably more. He loved the challenge of the hike. I did too but I'm not in the same type of physical condition as he is... YET! :-)

We missed the turn to Koko Head park so we ended up at Hanauma Bay. We turned around and headed back down. As you come out of the Hanauma Bay drive-way there is a mountain directly in front of you. I looked at the mountain and saw a trail going straight up the mountain. I said aloud to my husband, "If that's Koko Head Trail, I'm soooo not going!" As we followed the directions the security guard gave us, it indeed led us right to the trail that I said I would not go on. I was so nervous and husband was so excited about the challenge.

We got out of the car and got into a ridiculous argument because I wanted to wear my backpack. He was insistent that I should leave my backpack because no one else (that he observed) was taking a backpack. I wanted to take the backpack because it had my water in it, my phone, my wallet, and my first aid kit. He just berated me with reasons why I should leave it. **rolling my eyes** I did take it. I was so not backing down from what I wanted to do and I didn't see what the big deal was.

The trail is as steep as it looked from afar. The nervousness faded away as we walked to the base of the trail. As mad as I was about the stupid control issue with my husband, I just had to push through it. In the past, something like that would have made me stop dead in my tracks and make him do the hike by himself but I am not that girl from my past anymore. The words and phrases I repeated in my head went something like this:

I CAN DO THIS.

I GOT THIS.

I CAN DO ANYTHING I PUT MY MIND TO.

I kept repeating the words in my mind because I am committed to transforming my mind and, consequentially, my life. I must press forward through doubt and fear. That is the triumph of facing this trail that I pushed through the obstacles that presented themselves by overcoming the fear and doubt in my mind. My mind is what controls the physical and emotional challenges of my life and all I have to do is to push through! So even with the massive body aches, especially in my quadricep muscles, I did come away with a victory.