I had no answer to the question people ask me most until I had this sudden insight

Dare Greatly Coaching | Gerdi

Since moving to Austria from the Netherlands people have asked me what my reason for doing so was.

I’ve always given one of two answers.

  1. Because the Netherlands don’t have any mountains
  2. Because when I first came to these mountains I came home

Both of these are true.

As the name implies, the Netherlands don’t have any mountains. And what people there do call a mountain is not even considered a decent hill here in Austria.

And that first time when I truly hiked the mountains here I did feel as though I came home.

When asked what about the mountains made it ‘home’ though, I couldn’t explain it. All I knew was that it somehow felt as though I belong here.

Recently – in a flash of insight – I finally knew why I feel so at home in the mountains.

I finally realised what happened that first time when I truly hiked those Austrian Alps.

 

On those first hikes I reconnected with a part of myself that I had ignored for far too long.

To be able to deal with life being all work and no play,

  • With constantly feeling rushed and stressed out, …
  • With my brain always feels tired, …
  • With feeling trapped – caged – with no escape, …
  • With being pushed and shoved in every direction, …
  • With ever increasing pressure and stress, …
  • With always being hounded by my phone, email and internet connection, …
  • With feeling as though life was passing me by, …

I protected a part of myself and I didn’t even know I did it.

I put a shield around the softer parts of me and sent that other, tougher part of me into the world to do battle. To make sure I survived all that was causing me stress.

I didn’t know that what happened on those first mountain hikes was that I allowed my shield to come down. That I relaxed and allowed myself to be whole.

Because when you spent enough time in nature, among mountains especially – even if it is only for a short while –that’s what happens.

You reconnect with yourself, with your whole self.

As always….

Go dare greatly