Hiking Beacon Rock

The thought of hiking Beacon Rock was intimidating.  I knew Ethan really wanted to do it, but I was scared.  You hike up about 848 feet in less than a mile and let's face it, I haven't been so consistent with the exercise lately.  But I didn't want Ethan to miss out on something he was so excited to do.  So I put on a happy face and tried to convince the kids that, "It won't be that bad.  You'll have fun!"  They weren't that excited either.  They could see that rock.  They didn't like the thought of hiking up, up, up.  Doubtfully, they followed us up the trail.

 The "before" picture.  I saw that rock towering over me and was sure I was going to regret it.

 Look at all those switchbacks.  I was also worried about my fear of heights. I did alright, though, as long as I didn't look down while I was walking.

 The views were great.  See how much the kids love it?

 This is, oh, I don't know, about half way up?  Maybe more?  What a beautiful view of the Columbia River!  It was so awesome.  And you know what?  The hike really wasn't that hard.  In fact, I was doing just fine.

 Here's the picture to prove it.  See?  Happy face.  That's a face that says, "I don't know what I was so worried about!"

 Here's the view from the top.  Yup, we made it.  With no problems.  They kids were less excited about the view, and more excited about the fact that they got to eat lunch at the top.

Then we had to go down.  That did make my knees a little achey.  But, yes, it was definitely worth the trip and not nearly as hard as I thought it was going to be.  The kids felt the same.  They ended up being glad they did it.

It makes me wonder how often in life we decide not to do things because we think it will be too hard when, if we were to actually do it, we would find it really wasn't as bad as we thought it would be.  Do we hold back because we are afraid of not being able to do it?  Or  afraid of not being able to do it as well as someone else?  Or are we not afraid we will accomplish it but afraid of the discomfort it will create along the way?  Do we hear people say it's worth it but we doubt them?

Have you ever failed to do something you wanted to because of these reasons?  I know I have.  Maybe we should just try anyway, and maybe, just maybe, it won't be as bad as we thought it would be.  Maybe we will find it's definitely worth the trek.