Exhaustion quiets the mind!

Kristin Springfield

Exhaustion sure does quiet the mind

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Posted on: September 22, 2015 • 8 Comments

One of my objectives on this journey is to quiet my mind.  I must report that is is not as easy as it sounds, yet I have found one key to this quietness.  Exhaustion will shut up the mind, personality, and ego every time! At least it is working for me.  The exhaustion I am talking about is the physical kind.  Emotional exhaustion does quiet certain parts of the mind, but not all of them.  Anxiety, fear and sadness can penetrate through emotional exhaustion as long as I am conscious.  After that, those things can work their way into my dreams.  Physical exhaustion calms all of that down nicely.   I have been hiking most days along this trip.  The quietness that accompanies me on the last half of each trip is spectacular.  Today that peaceful mind happened within the first hour of the 5+ hour hike.  This was the most strenuous hike I have ever taken.  The challenge in this quiet mind intention is to stay “Bear Aware” along the way.  I have to make noise in order to not startle a bear.  I am sorry, but I know who would be startled if a bear and I were to meet.  The bear has a definite advantage over my bell, songs, bear spray and self calming chit chat!   The self calming chat I found myself saying today in order to deter bears made me laugh.  I have been an avid exerciser throughout my adolescence and adulthood.  As the sweat dripped down my face as I ascended to over 9600 feet in elevation, I reminded myself that all of that exercise lead me to this moment.  And I was going to make it to the lake, damnit!  I even found myself saying thank you for all for the insane stuff I had be doing in cross-fit over the past year.  Those walking lunges sure did come in handy today.  As it felt like 5 miles of up hill lunges followed by 5 more miles down hill.  I could almost hear Wes (the cross-fit guru) reminding me that it’s not that bad and I have got this! I am thankful that tomorrow is a driving day, for there is no way I would be hiking! As the exhaustion reached its peak,  a wonderful sense of peace and gratitude seemed to take over.  My bear aware talk took on a loving release of all the pain that brought me to this point in my journey.  Forgiving myself did bring tears to my eyes today along the hike.  I have made decisions that did not serve my highest self in the past.  I wanted to be loved from the outside so I would feel good enough to love myself on the inside.  It never worked out.  Actually it usually turned horribly wrong.  In my peaceful mind,  I forgave myself and loved myself more today than yesterday.  This trip is the best thing I could have ever done. When I am physically exhausted all the bullshit falls away.  What is left is love, gratitude (for finishing this hike), and my quirky gifts from God.   I am looking forward to being able to quiet my mind without the physical exhaustion! Namaste! Kristin

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