It was the last 2kms of our 4-day trek to Chandrashila (12000ft) in Uttarakhand. We had a turnaround time and I had to decide on whether I would continue because my fellow trekkers were waiting. I had already trekked for 4 hours and I broke down because the summit was just 2kms away and I was tired.
At that moment a friend who had been with me since the beginning of the trek became a living inspiration. We had been together for the last 4 days and she was ever so quiet. She shared brief stories from her previous treks and a little bit more. She trekked alone and was superb in descent.
That is all I knew about her till this moment. She saw me weak and she said softly – “I am a cancer survivor and once I overcame the fear of dying I engaged in every adventure sport because I realized no feeling is worse than the thought that you may JUST die without trying, without experiencing. In the last 2 years, I have done bungee jumping, scuba diving, and treks, because I felt what dying was like.”
That’s it, said nothing more, she smiled with moist eyes, turned around and started trekking. I was stunned and speechless. Suddenly the pain and fatigue seemed nothing. My issues became so petty that I could no longer hold on to them.
She looked back, gestured for me to come along and I resumed. Every step gave pain, and every breath felt heavy but a voice inside kept saying – “I am going to conquer this!”
I came across a post on LinkedIn about how one should share their stories, which may become a survival guide for the other. This article is an inspiration from the same.