Internal Goals

I went on a wilderness adventure with my brother this weekend. We went to Linville Gorge Wilderness Area and basically hiked out for a day, camped, and hiked back for a day. It was an incredible experience.

I learned a really important lesson about the value of internal goals versus external goals. What happened was, we found ourselves on a long, sustained, steep, rocky downhill. Part way down (turns out, about 2/3 down maybe) we stopped to take stock of where we were, and how we were feeling. We decided to turn back, knowing that (especially for me) uphill would be even more difficult than downhill. 

We had had something of a goal/idea of making it to Shortoff Mountain, and were something like 2 miles short of that. My true goal though, the root of the Shortoff goal, was to really test the limits of my personal endurance and to find out where my body is in terms of this kind of thing. That goal was met beautifully by this decision to turn back.

I learned that when our goals are internal (ie, based on comparisons only to ourselves and on stretching our selves) they are always achievable. When goals are external (ie, based on a number of miles, a number of minutes, or some other external criteria) it is all too possible to fall short.

I think internal goals are more satisfying and nourishing and gratifying and just all around more real. 

I conquered a couple of fears that I had around spending a night in the wilderness, as well. But looking back I'm wondering if those fears, while they did have some life all of their own, were really a mask. I'm starting to suspect that I was judging myself based on my fitness level and using my overnight fears as a way to try to squirm out of the possibility of doing a full weekend adventure (versus a day trip, which would be, of course, approximately half as taxing!).