Bravery is acknowledging your fear and doing it anyway. - Cheryl Strayed

By the way,” I said, “I wanted to tell you — about why I decided to hike the PCT? I got divorced. I was married and not long ago I got divorced, and also about four years ago my mom died — she was only forty-five and she got cancer suddenly and died. It’s been a hard time in my life and I’ve sort of gotten offtrack. So I …” He opened his eyes wider, looking at me. “I thought it would help me find my center, to come out here.” I made a crumpled gesture with my hands, out of words, a bit surprised that I’d let so many tumble out.

I’d set out to hike the trail so that I could reflect upon my life, to think about everything that had broken me and make myself whole again.

Our minds are small, but our hearts are big.