Life after Half Dome

Yes, I did it. It was a challenge. I thought I was going to die but I have one thing off my bucket list right now. Hiking half dome was a big feat and I had to overcome fear in order to accomplish my goal. I have a fear of heights yet I have gone sky diving. I kept telling myself "If I have gone skydiving then I can do anything". Right? Skydiving is very different than Half dome because I am in control of my own life when climbing Half dome. If I slip, I will die. In skydiving, someone else is in control of the parachute so I just enjoy the ride. I had fear of my own capabilities, fear of dying, fear of falling, and fear of heights. I was afraid mainly in my own ability to climb. I knew it required emotional and physical strength. Each step I took I knew I was one step closer to the top. I kept thinking of Train who said "I think I can". I think climbing half dome was hard mainly because I doubted in my own abilities. If I knew I could do it and had absolute confidence, then I would have enjoyed my trip more. I wouldn't have taken as long as I did going up, and I wouldn't have felt like my heart was going to rip out of my chest because It was pumping so fast.

I talked to my sister in law most of the hike because my brother had a faster pace than me and my sister in law. We talked about our friends, life experiences and just different things. After hiking down the rock and the  steps, we were just talking about how we felt relief that the hard part was over. The rest of the hike was downhill. I told her that we could use hiking half dome as an example of faith. I was joking around, but I realized that It is very applicable. Here is my example.

We each have our own perception of how fit we are and how capable we are of climbing. Some may think they are more fit and some think they are far from fit. Just like the gospel, some people think are worthy for God's love and some people think they are far from the pathway. Even if you are physically fit and safe, you can still get injured and die on half dome. There is no promise that the hike will be safe and that there will be no problems. My brother told me that if everyone on the hike were good shoes, held onto the cables and were physically fit there would be no deaths. That is false. Everyone has a chance to be injured. Just like the gospel, if we all pray, read our scriptures and go to church, that doesn't mean we are free from trials. Trials aren't based on righteousness. My favorite part about the hike was the encouragement from my family and people who were also on the hike. As I was struggling, I saw my brother and sister in law telling me I was doing a good job, and then the other hikers told me I was almost there. The words of encouragement helped me overcome my fear. There is help from our Savior as we fall down. He will help us through the atonement so we can reach perfection and return to our Heavenly Father. We are never truly alone. After the hike is done we can look back and see how far we have come and we can see in a clearer perspective. The view from the top was beautiful. It made the whole hike worth all the work. I could see waterfalls, valleys, steep cliffs and trees. When we reach our final destination, we can look back and see that all of our work was for a good cause. We can say sacrificing worldly values for godly values was worth it because we obtained eternal life with our families. It will be worth it. We will see our a bigger picture and have more understanding. This is what I realized on the hike Half Dome. If anyone wants to do it, I would suggest it. If you are going to it soon, bring lots of water, a camera, good shoes, emotional strength and phyiscal endurance. It was a long hike and one long day. I crashed right when I got back to my tent and struggled to walk the next day as my whole body was sore and ached. But like I said, it was worth in the end as I saw my work brought a wonderful ending. (and I have one more thing off my bucket list). What should I add to it now? Climb Mount Shasta?