Reaching My Tree

I didn't go to bed last night because I was up late talking to my sisters and got so wound up that I couldn't sleep and then I found myself awake at 4 AM thinking about this hike of mine. I was excited but more so I was anxious. I kept thinking, what if I don't make it? what if I'm just not ready? At 5, I got out of bed and went for a walk to the beach to watch the sun rise, I was hoping to clear my mind but I kept battling myself, maybe I shouldn't go, maybe I should reschedule for next weekend. When i got home to upload my sunrise pictures, my sisters had posted words of encouragement on my wall, as if they knew I needed a little push. I ate a good breakfast, packed my lunch and covered myself in 70spf sunblock ( no shade at all on the mountain). The bus dropped me off and I walked the 2 miles to get to the trail head which in itself was uphill most of the way. I put my earbuds in and just started walking. I kept my head down because I knew that if I kept looking up, I would only focus on how much longer I had to go and not how far I had already come. All of my energy just went into putting one foot in front of the other. The next thing I know, I'm at the start of the summit, my legs were on fire, my thighs felt like they had been through a war. I had already gone 1,000 steps and had 48 more to go. I wanted to finish those steps so badly that I blocked out the pain and ran the last 48. So there I was, out of breath on top of my "hill" standing in front of a tree... my tree. I asked another hiker to take my picture with the tree and as soon as they snapped it, I was taken back by a wave of emotions that flooded my body. I reached the top and started to cry it was then that I realized that those tears were self doubt leaving my body. Even the most confident of us has moments of self doubt, I was second guessing myself standing at the bottom of those steps but we cannot let it hold us back. You will never know what you can and can not do if you don't allow yourself the opportunity to try. I will never forget this day in my life and will always keep climbing more hills to reach more trees.