The End or the Beginning of Something New
“For me the feeling of: ‘Wow, you made it to Everest Base Camp’ hasn’t really sunk in yet, I don’t feel any different but I guess the change will show itself with every day, little by little, I will notice the things which have shaped and touched me thanks to this amazing trek …“
In the morning, when I see the sun rise behind the high peaked mountains from my bedroom window, it actually feels like a new beginning. It feels like the end of something and the beginning of something new, almost as if I had left all my fears, sorrows and negative feelings at the Base Camp – I am just filled with happiness and gratitude. It is a beautiful day, there is not one single cloud in the sky and all the mountains which were covered by fog yesterday are visible today – exactly the opposite of yesterday.
Now I know and realize for the first time that WE DID IT. Suddenly I am experiencing a firework in my brain, a multitude of thoughts and feelings are rising within me …
All the difficulties we experienced along the way, all the pain and exhaustion we felt in the evening, all the days we spent without showering and drinking dirty water and all the mental and physical challenges we had to overcome, were totally worth it because it made me realize that everything is possible if you believe in it.
How you look at things means a lot. Take the example of Everest Base Camp: for many it is the end point, the final destination, the point they worked for very hard, but for many others it is just the beginning of their journey, a difficult and dangerous journey of conquering the summit – the top of the world.
It is my endpoint but someone else’s starting point, it is my limit and someone else’s beginning. So you always have to look at yourself and not at others – see your own victories and failures as there will always be someone out there who is better than you as well as someone who is not as good as you …
I have mentioned it before in my articles and I will say it again: I think that it is a misconception that so-called “into the wild” experiences are about finding yourself. I believe that it is much more about creating yourself along the way by exposing yourself to situations you never had to face to before, immersing yourself in nature, testing your strengths, your limits, your willpower and also accepting them.
A lot more is going through my mind, but some thoughts don’t have a definite structure yet so I get dressed, pack my bag and go downstairs for breakfast. We, the Indians and us, leave Gorak Shep all together and start walking towards Phablu where we had started our trek initially. What started off as two separate groups ended with two combined groups and a great bond between people of different parts of this world. I couldn‘t have imagined it in any better way.
I am very grateful and thank everyone who I met along this amazing life-changing journey and who have touched my soul in one way or another.
When I finish my breakfast, I step outside and look towards Mount Everest one more time, take a mental picture and soak it all in. From afar I hear someone screaming “Chalo Chalo” (in Hindi it means: let’s go, come on), so I take one deep breath, turn around and start walking. I start walking towards something new and towards a hot shower – finally!!
