There's no Need to Rush, Young Adventurer

I’ve read articles and I’ve seen the videos that claim it’s best to do these long hikes when we’re young, suggesting the opposite is also true: that waiting until we’re older is a bad idea. 

“Long hikes” are those that keep us on trail for weeks and even months at a time. Not necessarily the Appalachian Trail, The Pacific Crest Trail, or The Continental Divide Trail, it could be even shorter trails. A “long” hike means something different for everyone. But definitely it's a hike where we’re living out of our tent for an extended period. 

What I’ve heard goes something like this:

• Why wait? Live your best life now while you can.
• Don’t get caught up in the corporate world; they will steal your soul.
• Don’t chase money, chase experiences.
• Who knows what tomorrow brings. Live for today.
• Don’t walk through life regretting what you could have done with it.

I agree with most of that. Life is too short. We should enjoy the moments and the people in our lives. 

But whenever I’ve heard people talk about these things, the undertone suggests that anyone who works hard and builds a nice retirement nest egg has somehow sold out, that they are not really living their best life. They’ve determined somehow that everyone who doesn’t approach life like they do isn’t really enjoying it. 

Definitely some have sold out to the company and they have missed out on some great experiences. But honestly, everyone has missed out on some great experiences – just by simple daily choices we make. If I choose to go right instead of left, I’ve missed half of what the world has to offer in the other direction. We make those choices every day. We experience the direction we’ve chosen. And we missed whatever the other direction had for us. Which could have been great!

But that's not the end of it. If I’ve chosen to go one direction today doesn’t automatically imply that I’ll never come back to see what the other direction has for me. Making one choice doesn’t always mean the end to the other choice. 

The young adventurer doesn't want anything tying them down, keeping them doing whatever they feel they should be doing. That might be true in the moment. But it's an impatient, short-sighted vision, which is often an attribute of youthfulness. 

What youth doesn't yet appreciate is hindsight - the things we see and understand better as we get older and experience more life. The choice of a career and family first doesn’t mean a long hike isn't in the future for them. Sure, it's scare, like everything uncertain. But a career or raising a family doesn’t automatically erase the option of ever having that long-hike experience. 

When we’re young and immature, we often see a world of absolutes. We use words like “never” and “always” and have this heightened urgency to go get what we want. We act like there’s no hope in the future; we may not even see a future. A big reason why we can't see a future is because we don't have much of a past as a point of reference. 

But as we get older and experience more things, we see that most of the world is in that middle space somewhere. The world around us is not as absolute as we once thought it was. The mirror is proof that there actually was a future, maybe a great one. We could have planned for it.

Some of us have, in fact, found a way to have a great career, built a nice nest egg, and that much of it was actually enjoyed. I am one of those. 

As the saying goes: I’ve made my own cake and I’m eating it too – right now in this aged body. And, by the way, it is delicious!

I’m doing long hikes now. And as it turned out, it wasn't a bad idea to wait. In fact, it was a great idea to wait! 

For the younger person reading this, if you have been scared into thinking you will die young, or be too unhealthy when you’re older, or that life will suck the joy out of you and you will loose the desire to have that long trail or other exciting experience when you are older - hear this:

I’m telling you not to be scared into anything. Set your goals. Reserve a part of you that thinks bigger and longer-term. Chase your dreams - not as a sprint, but as a marathon. Prove the people who are hopeless about the future around you are wrong. 

But first, do your homework and be fair to your future self. Being short-sighted is deciding that the future you isn’t worth the investment, that you aren’t worth the investment. You are. 

Appreciate the fact that age and life experiences teach us many things about ourselves and the world, things we could not have known when we were younger. Those things, even the difficult ones, are not meant to discourage us or break us down. They are building blocks; they are a classroom from which we can learn and grow. And, if we’re paying attention, they will help guide us to where we were always meant to be. That’s not scary – that’s maturity, and that’s wisdom. 

So now as I'm in my last quarter, my perspective is that we should use our youth to set ourselves up in the best way possible so we can to finish strong.

Go live like you want it for a long time!