“Mountaintops inspire you but you are matured only in the valley.”

Everyone raised in a valley grows up  looking at the larger than life mountains.  Through  which trickle  down many streams and a lot of  warmth and security, which transcends into confidence.  Along with this the  omnipresent view of the mountains  instills you with humility. because of their sheer size.

We are naturally gifted with natures gifts

Humbled and confident there is a spark which separates every valley dweller.  When you reply with “Dehradun” to an  informal inquiry regarding your hometown, you see the subtle expansion in the iris of the inquirer, maybe from magical experiences of the past.

Living in abundance is second nature to valley dwellers, the  natural diversity  at their disposal makes them wealthy beyond all riches. Most times this feeling is subconscious, they might consciously feel like beggars but deep inside they know more about the little things that matter.

The activated sense of perception  is not  an acquired  talent but  learnt from growing up in these blissful surroundings.

The Trek to Mussoorie

As a child Mussoorie, the queen of the hills on the lower Himalayas, which enclose my hometown of Dehradun,  always appeared to be a distant goal, a

The mountain top served as a long term goal to  be accomplished.  (Accomplishing this the first few times  through automobiles was a hard task because of mountain sickness).Later it became more achievable when I entered the bunking age (tried it just once, was diligent  at school that way).

But what I realized when I made my first trek to Mussoorrie was how the feeling of reaching the top inspired me to keep going on even when there was no gas left in my pulmonary tank.

The path went through an amazing micro valley, full of amazing views of the city, fresh water streams, waterfalls, flaura and fauna which included laughing hyenas echoing across the valley.  But all of this was not noticed the first time. As most of it was  about surviving the trek and achieving the goal of reaching the top.

The first trek was calf numbing and needed a day to recover from ,with reaching the top being the only takeaway.

The next time the  distance was still the same, but I noticed more things along the journey. I was aware of the birds chirping this time, the laughing hyenas made me realize that I was supposed to be scared along with tired through the first trek, and rather than only looking up I was looking around.

As these treks continued, I started exploring more along the journey, to the extent of taking a dip in the icy stream on a cold December Morning.  We reached the top each time but with every journey our minds matured.

The degree of exhaustion was inversely proportion to the number of treks but the enjoyment multiplied manifolds with each trip.

Life Lessons from a Trek up a Mountain around Dehradun

With every climb, the top of the mountain was the inner aim but each new journey was more fulfilling than the previous.

Everything about the journey was the same, but what changed was my perspective. As it matured,  I became more aware of the little things which were ignored the previous time.  The time in the valley taught me to notice more when I make the climbs to the top.

On our journey through life we have to climb many mountains, we have to achieve many goals. The first few times we try to do anything, we are so consumed at completing the task at hand that we overlook the experiential value which the task contains.

In our obsession with completing the task we overlook the micro aspects that  lead to the ultimate goal. But as we mature through life, especially through our valleys, not Dehradun, but the times when we feel down and introspect, we tend to get better at enjoying the ride rather than completing it.

Be Mindful of the Micro Sensations

In your quest for glory or accomplishing any small part of your story, take sometime to enjoy the experience , the art will only get better as you get humbled by time. But through the valleys in your life you will learn lessons which will make you more mindful every time you start a new climb, which can be starting a new relationship or business or a new job or any other endeavor you want to be a part of.

The view from the top of the mountain will be much better when you have enjoyed the journey to it.  But first you will need to develop humble confidence through self awareness and then take out time to climb some mountains.