Go Confidently….

The 10 and one-half hour drive flew, with a break for breakfast and a stop in the beautiful quaint town of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Settled in 1628, this hamlet on the water has brick row houses, brick and cobblestone streets, and stores, restaurants and sights to see and explore. The forty-five minutes for coffee, walking and shopping was well worth the time. We still made it to Bar Harbor, Maine by 3:30 in the afternoon. The comment made the most during the last few hours of the drive was, “there are a lot of trees!” There are a lot of trees, all types with Pine leading the bunch. They tower over little 5foot 2 inch women (ok I’m 5’1” but she’s 5’2”!). They are also a far cry from our hustle and bustle area.
Once we settled in our hotel on the water, we immediately decided to take a boat tour of the harbor. We dressed warmly and went onto the boat for a 6pm launch. It was foggy and chilly, the air moist but not actually cold. We sat bundled and saw the harbor and island from the water. We saw harbor porpoises, jumping through the water, allowing for some distance from the boat but close enough where we could see the fin break into the air and then be swallowed back up into the sea. We saw Seals lounging on the rocks around the lighthouse. We saw million dollar “cottages” dotting the cliffs, all with a story of an original owner with names such as Vanderbilt and Rockefeller.
We made our way up to the mountain the next morning, ready to take on trails and see what we were capable of doing. I, a novice hiker, while she is a beginning hiker were prepared as best as we could be, we were in a national park with a lot of other people, I was less nervous but still anxious. We walked, we climbed some rocks, we walked up and down hills, at times we even slid on our asses (which was fun and functional!)! We supported each other, encouraged each other and helped each other.
It became obvious that the more confidence we had in ourselves. The better we were able to accomplish something. The moment we lost faith or confidence, we would react differently, nervously, and perhaps turn back. If we trusted in ourselves, we were able to balance better on those beams or on those rocks. If we allowed fear to creep in, then we were done.
So this test of confidence became very real for both of us and we felt stronger because of it. We had more confidence in our strength, especially our legs. I also saw exactly what I need to work on and told that to my instructor in our exercise class when we returned. I want to get better at pushing myself to be balanced in my strength and be able to rely on both my legs even more.
Confidence isn’t the only thing you need in life and we found that as we hiked as well. Allowing yourself to listen and follow your gut, your intuition, without being influenced by those around you was not easy to do. That counteracted the confidence. If the gut was saying, “walk down the road to the other lot,” and all the other people are walking up the road going past you, in the opposite direction, you wonder, “ perhaps my gut is wrong! These people are all going that way, they must know something I don’t.” We lost confidence in our own intuition and again let some “fear”enter our minds. What if we are in the wrong place? Not that it mattered a lot, but think about those times in life when it does. Are we gripped by the fear of being wrong to a point that we don’t even try? Another thought provoking lesson filling my mind as we wandered around the summit trying to figure out the best viewing spot for sunset.
Not trusting our intuition caused us to park in the summit lot instead of the overlook lot, which both the books we read and our gut told us to do. More importantly, we were anxious and fear gripped us thinking we didn’t know where to go for sunset! We didn’t trust our gut so much that we had a call in one of our lifelines and phone a friend. That friend led us back down the road, and now we needed to trust the friend, which wasn’t easy when again we saw everyone else walking the opposite direction. Once we found the overlook and saw the sun from there, we knew we were in the right place, that our friend didn’t let us down nor did our intuition.
The reward was an incredible sunset over vistas of waterways, islands, and mountains. Sitting on a smooth pink rock looking out at the day ending, we both realized that fear had no place here and that we needed to continue on this road of building our confidence. Vicky was so encouraging, whenever I would make a snide comment about my age, she would jump on it, reminding me that we were doing the same things, the same climbs, the same ledges, the same.
Having confidence in your ability and not allowing fear to grip you is important in so many facets of life. This vacation was a microcosm of that in the mountains of Maine surrounded by beauty, peace and tranquility. It was a reminder of all that we are capable of and all that we still want to conquer.
And there was great lobster to boot! Go confidently in the direction of your dreams (Thoreau) and allow your intuition to guide you. I do hope you have a friend to call for that lifeline if needed, you always have me!