My professional career has been as a facilitator helping organizations do strategic planning- setting goals for the future.  It is ironic that I am very good at setting goals for myself but at times have trouble fulfilling those goals.  Isn’t there some saying……those that can’t do - teach and those that can’t teach become consultants? 

Anyway, a good friend of mine called up a year ago and asked if I and my husband wanted to hike the Grand Canyon.  As has happened frequently in my life, with little to no information, I said “OK”. Months passed and periodically I would think about this but it never got much past the thinking stage.  Now you need to know that my friend exercises regularly.  My husband exercises regularly.  I think about exercising regularly.  I even buy outfits and shoes to exercise in but still have trouble participating in a regular exercise regiment.  I think it might be because I don’t much like to sweat or that it is so much work. 

Ten and a half months pass and all of a sudden (?!?) I start to get a little concerned about this Grand Canyon hike.  It is something like 7.3 miles down and 9.6 back up.  I start to think - “I need to get some good shoes and new hiking clothes.”  No really I start to get worried about whether or not I can physically do this.  Will my skeleton be the new tourist site alongside  the trail? 

Panic has often been a good motivator for me, so I started to train in ernest.  I whined.  I hiked.  I whined some more.  I iced.  I hiked.  I took anti-inflammitories.  And now I am almost there.  On Thursday, February 19th down we go and then back up on the 20th.  I think I am ready.  I’ll let you know what it was actually like when I get to the top.  My goal - to walk in the beauty of this journey and not to die.

If you don’t hear back from me, check out the new tourist site - opening Spring 2009 - “the missing hiker skeleton” on the Bright Angel Trail!

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 15th, 2009 at 9:46 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.