Did you drink water today?

A couple of weeks ago Eden and I went on a 48 hour hike. Now, I'm pretty fit but nothing can prepare you for eight hours of walking uphill in 40 degree heat, in the jungle of the north of Thailand. But also multiply that eight hours by two. Oh and separate the 2x eight hour hikes with a sleep in a rickety, mosquito filled, bamboo hut.

So why did we do this? Honestly, I'm constantly looking for "inner peace" to quieten my forever buzzing brain. I think for people like us, we need quiet, downtime, grounding… a lot. Sometimes I find it in meditation, but I often find it easier when I push myself to physical limits.

Okay, so why am I telling you this? Because when I was on this hike I didn't find inner peace. I found something even greater.

If you've been reading these for a while, you might remember this quote:

"We work the problems one by one. We do what's in front of us. And we do the next thing"

It's from The Meg 2… Not the greatest or worst movie I've ever seen but this one quote has apparently stuck with me up until now, maybe forever.

This quote essentially is saying focus on the first step and worry about the other things after. And that's exactly how I felt on this hike. It was just one foot in front of the other. That was my only thought, my only worry, my only care in the world was getting through this hike.

I didn't have any distractions, no phone, no reception, no people (other than Eden and our guide)—and I had no idea where I was going or even what time it was. It gave me perspective to really zoom out on life. Why are we constantly worrying about so much stuff? Why aren't we just focusing on what's in front of us?

The hike stripped me back to bare necessities. Water, food, shelter, companionship. Life can be filled with just too much unnecessary stuff. It's okay to take a step back sometimes and ask yourself, does this really matter? Because most of the time, it really doesn't matter.

We're just little people on a big floating rock in a giant universe. And all you need to be doing is just one foot in front of the other. That's enough. Tackle the problem in front of you, even if that's just one step today.

When your perspective shifts from I need this, I need that to—the only thing I need is water, you realise your problems aren't so huge in the scheme of things. But to solve your problems or reach your goals, you need to take action.

Maybe the first step is simply to drink some water to keep going. But you need to start taking the steps (literally and figuratively). Because you'll never reach the top of the mountain if you stay sitting at the bottom.

That first decision to move is hard.
Then the first steps are easy. But each step up the mountain becomes harder.

Even though it gets harder, each step is more familiar and easier to tackle. Because all you need is just one foot in front of the other. And before you know it, you're at the top of the mountain.

But you need to take that first step to keep going.
And you might need to drink water first.

Love,
Penelope
Co-Founder of Boring Studios, taking steps