AT Happiness: Reflections on Happiness

At Overmountain Shelter

First you examine the scenery, then you examine your gear, then you examine yourself – Colin Fletcher

Today on a slack pack, a light pack day, I really had time to reflect on my thru-hike and my life, I guess Colin Fletcher was right.

A lot of people are out here walking things off.  My hope is that because of the work I’ve done over the last thirty years I don’t have much to walk off.

Today I reflected on all of this and I’m really happy about who and where I am. One thing that I thought about was a comment that has been said about how easy I have it. This comment angers me for a minute until I think about how ridiculous it is.

I didn’t grow up with a lot and I made a lot of mistakes and took all of the crooked roads as a young man. I left college significantly in debt.  Over the last thirteen years I’ve basically erased my debt and worked hard and been successful enough to put myself in position where I can take a year off and hike and write.

This was earned and not easily, but I deserve the happiness and freedom I have right now. Some people think a life where you follow your bliss is not as valid or valuable as a life that follows society’s script.

I disagree, and the evidence I present are the hikers I meet every day out here. They are some of the happiest people I’ve ever met and everyone of them is off society’s script and having happy days my friends. – Rev Kane