Pleasure comes right when the suffering ends

My whole life I have been doing physical activities mostly because I wanted to look fit, be healthy, and stand up for myself, not that I liked to sweat for 2 hours because it is enjoyable. I also never understood this concept of "oh, I had such a great workout today, can not even walk, blablabla". I was skeptical, why would you torture yourself, come on get an interesting book to read, anime series to watch, or whatever. Mindless training is also combined with some traumas and consumes a lot of energy and time. So, working out and physical activity, was a bit of victory over myself, but things changed recently.

My first hike

Around 2 years ago, it was October of 2020, my friend Andrey, also known, as Turbo (shoutouts to my brother, he is reading this post right now) invited me to his house, which is in a city near the lake, where the air is fresh, picturesque views and all type of pleasant things around. So, we drove there and decided to go for a walk and climb a little mountain or hill, whatever you call it, with his dog Bruce. I thought it would be just an ordinary walk, hopped in my sneakers, and was getting ready to start our journey. When Turbo looked at what I am wearing, he just laughed and started to search for some solid footwear for me, even waterproof clothes, and a jacket. At that point, it seemed to me a little bit strange, but he was convinced, that we could not go there without proper gear. Once we walked out of his big house and the gates were closed, our trip started, me, Turbo and Bruce on the way to the top of the world, here we go.

First, we were just walking on the streets, nothing special, climbing up tiny hills, somewhere, in other places going down the road. In like 30 minutes, we left the town and came up to the foot of our mountain. The tilt angle was about 30-45 degrees and we started walking up, this is when the winter wind got us. We were climbing up somewhere like 45 minutes because the path was wet and dirty, and the wind was blowing us out of the road. I had to catch branches of trees around to get in some kind of stable posture and keep moving forward. While Turbo was silently climbing up with Bruce, I was asking him every 5 minutes whether we can go down and come back next time.

When we were climbing up and already getting relatively high to the start position, I made a big mistake - looked back down the path. To me it was something astonishing and scary at the same time, I realized, that if I stumble somewhere, the chances, that I will roll down through the rocks, dirt, and trees are around 70% (don`t forget, I am managing data-driven marketing agency, so I like to percentage everything). The next thought, that came up to my mind was about the moment when we need to go back home: how the hell should we do this if I can barely stand on my feet right now? When we go down, there is nothing to hold on to (because of the angle, the best way would be to get some board and slide down on it from the peak). While I was thinking about that, snow started to fall even faster, but it was melting at the same time, so it felt like rain. All I was able to see was Andrey`s jacket up there, but I had to blink fast, cause snowflakes-rain drops were literally filling up my eyes, and I could not see anything. Next 5 minutes, I got kind of a panic attack or something, because my mind refused to let me go further, I started thinking about what would happen, if I stay there, am I gonna die, or what. Luckily in the next 2 minutes, Andrey shouted "the end is near" (of my life or what?) and I grabbed myself with closed eyes and climbed up, praying not to fall off.

In 10 minutes we reached the final point of our hike and it was one of the moments, that I will never forget. Looking around, the view made me feel like I am on top of the world, with green forest shrouding the lake and cold wind. Then I opened our backpack and took out a thermos with hot tea and Andrey grabbed 2 bars of Snickers, damn, it was so sweet, that I even closed my eyes with pleasure and was eating this small bar for around 10 minutes. Bruce was also a little tired of our hike, just standing in one place and heavily breathing, while we were taking photos, discussing how insidious our way to the top was and how we should get back home. There was another path, way easier to walk on from the other side, so we decided not to torture ourselves completely and started our way back.

Now I understand, why this moment was important for me and how hiking tuned into my life after this day. I heard a quote somewhere, which goes like this: "A person gets the most pleasure when the suffering ends" and it describes what is going on while you are hiking pretty well. When you get to the final spot of your hike, your body instantly starts to feel better, you forget about those moments, when you fell down on the road, a smile suddenly appears on your face and your mind becomes completely relaxed and positive.

Our lives in some ways are like hiking, we are trying to get some trophies, become wealthier, stronger, faster, or whatever, facing many obstacles, which we have to finesse, but when it is all said and done, you just feel a pure joy to be at the top and understand, that you came here by yourself. I have never got any handouts in my life, although, I had a fairly happy childhood and teenage years, last 5 years of my life turned me from being a little boy to a grown man, provider, and everything that I got now is entirely a result of my work and dedication. I have met some incredible people over the past years, who helped to lay the road for a better future for me and my family. They told me, that I am achieving great results in work and other things, not by a lucky chance, but because I truly deserve to win.

Considering this mentality, that I gained, hiking really resonates with it, this is why I see my hobby, as the best way to spend time on the weekend. Oh, yes, here is the view (video quality is not that good, but anyway):

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It is almost 2 years since I discovered hiking for myself and now it is the most fulfilling and pleasant physical activity for me. I never thought that walking for 10-12 hours up to the top of the mountain or some lake would give me such emotions, but here we are. Do you have any hobby, that makes you feel the same way?

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Have a great day, my dear readers😉