Back To Civilisation
Without a doubt, the most difficult challenge in my life so far was the 10 days in the forest. In total, after some calculations, we came to the conclusion that we travelled by foot a total of about 130km in those 10 days. About half in the first nine days and the other half during a single day.
As mentioned, it was cold. -10°C on average. It was our first time dealing with such an environment. The name of the game in said environment is "Do not get wet". Otherwise, you would suffer the consequences.
When in "normal" conditions discipline is important, then in these more extreme conditions discipline is even more important. If you do not keep your belongings clean of snow they will be rendered useless, if you do not take care of yourself you can get frostbite, if you do not look after your mates they can be filled with apathy.
It is a mental game. Ten days. Discipline is in the details, it's doing the little things that are easy to skip. But those details are what make it possible to keep going.
One thing I will openly complain about is the way some of my teammates acted. From the very first day some of them started complaining. They kept it up the whole time. It was mostly about wanting to leave, go home and not be here.
Which makes sense. I did not want to be in the freezing cold either. That being said, the complaining is not going to make it go by any faster. It just makes it worse for everyone. It brings down the spirit of the whole group.
Another thing that resonated in their text was that the task was impossible. Which indeed, sometimes seemed like it. We had moments where moving a single kilometre took us 4 hours because of the horrid terrain. But then after pushing through and being on the other side, it was done. Somehow, the task always got done.
I could really relate to the ideas that marathon runners talk about – you have to make the whole into smaller sequences. Telling oneself that I will run 42 kilometres is rough, but doing it one kilometre at a time is more understandable. As in, I will run this next kilometre and then only tackle the next one. Breaking it down into smaller sections makes it digestible.
Something that can help is motivating oneself with what is going to be at the end. On the seventh day I made a list of things I will do once I get out of the forest. It included going to a doughnut shop, drinking a warm coffee at a cosy place, making croque-monsieurs (All of which I acted on this past weekend).
After 10 days we did it. It was a truly a mental trial. Not that physically it was not challenging. We ate rather little amounts, we had to travel long distances with heavy bags and we only slept a few hours per day (there were stretches where we did not sleep for 42 hours). The body can physically withstand a lot. The difficulty is in convincing the mind to go through with it. To push it even further than it thinks possible.
This Week's Suggestions:
This trippy-tribal song was on my mind in the forest. It has something to it that I have difficulties putting into words. It's just something that I find beauty in. Give it a spin!
Thanks for reading!
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