Monte Roraima - Life Lessons

The road to Monte Roraima is long, 3 days of intense hiking, climbing and struggling to keep your heart from pounding out through your rib cage.  

You think "there's no way in hell I can do this" and yet, turning back is not an option and so you continue to move forward through fog, rain, scorching sun, trying to ignore the tiny flies called puri puri that nip at any and all exposed skin. 

The trail can be hard packed dirt, slippery thick, sticky mud that adds kilos to your already heavy feet or a creek bed that you must climb, always up, up, up. You feel like you can't take another step; yet you do, and with each one you are closer to your goal. 

As you fight the urge to give up, to simply lay down and say "enough, this is too hard" you look up and catch a glimpse of what you are struggling to reach. It's so much closer than before! Have I come all this way?  I can  do this. And you take another step. 

And while the trail is hard; probably the hardest you have ever attempted, you notice there are helping hands at the most difficult moments: a branch, a rock, a root, that seemingly appear out of nowhere at the precise instant you reach out for them. 

When it seems that it's too dark, too hard to carry on, remember that this is when you must push the hardest; your destination is close now.  

The feeling you get when, after all that effort and struggle, you reach your destination, is one of complete and utter satisfaction. 

Set the goal. Work your ass off. And you will make it.