Dark Night of the Soul: Wrap Up

In Bristol Hills... Pointing to Hill we were Hiking From

What is the moral of this story? Why did I tell you these depressing stories? There is a point, I promise.
Actually, I have three points:

1. I still love Frisbee and I still love hiking.

• Having a bad experience with something doesn't mean you have to give up on it. In fact, if you do something long enough with enough regularity you are bound to have a couple bad experiences here and there along the journey. If you love traveling and you travel enough you will eventually have a trip where absolutely everything seems to go wrong. If you push through, it will only add to your story and to the adventure. When I had my "dark night of the soul" moment, I some how listened to the voices in my head saying that these moments would permanently ruin my hobbies by shattering my mental ideal that I loved them in all circumstances. It doesn't have to be that way. You can take the good with the bad, learn from the bad, and continue happily along.

2. I ended up loving both Bristol Hills and The Roberts Tournament.

• You're probably wondering how this is possible considering that I spent two posts complaining about these two events. Yet, when I look back at the past semester, they are two of my favorite memories. When you push through those moments, it is possibles to readjust and have a good time. The sun ended up coming up during the tournament and the rain stopped. We bonded so much with each other and with the other teams that stuck around. Christine and I finished our entire adventure. The things I remember most from that trip were how beautiful the woods were with the undisturbed snow, how completely in the middle of no where we were, and how incredible the views were. In both cases I didn't really have any choice but to stick around and see the event through. While hiking, my car was miles away so I had to just keep moving. While playing Frisbee, my loyalty to my team wouldn't allow me to leave. So in both cases I begrudgingly stayed, but eventually that attitude changed to happiness and enthusiasm. An experience I never would have gotten if I had given up at my "dark night of the soul." 

3. This goes for anything you love. 

• You will face moments when everything in you shouts "I DON"T LIKE THIS ANYMORE" and like a little child you just want to walk away and not work for it any more. That will be the moment that you leave "the honeymoon stage." The good news is that there is life after "the honeymoon stage" and its deeper and more meaningful. It could be a relationship, a hobby, a job, or even your spiritual walk. Its not the end; its only the beginning.

My Roberts Frisbee Team... The Faithful that stayed and played