On Sh*t Sandwiches

Or, the things which make you come alive

Dreams are the seedlings of reality.

Awake, arise, and assert yourself, you dreamers of the world.

Your star is now in the ascendancy.

-- Napoleon Hill

This weekend, I achieved the top item on my bucket list: to see lava.

It was spectacular.

After a 7 hour hike to 13,000 feet, I was beyond exhausted. Yet when heard the rumblings of the volcano, and the guide yelling, "Come quickly!", my pain was replaced with excitement; my trudging replaced with jogging; and my complaining with joy.

Before I hiked Acatenango, I spoke with at least a dozen people who'd done it already. Each of them expressed some variation of this sentiment: "It was both the most-amazing and the most-difficult thing that I've ever done."

By the time that I rounded the corner and took this photo of my first-ever volcanic eruption, I knew exactly what they had all meant.

One of my favourite authors (and personal heroes), @markmanson, has a saying:

"What's your favourite flavour of Shit Sandwich? and does it come with an Olive?"

By that he means: everything in life has its trade-offs -- its pros and its cons. The secret is to find those things (and people) which are net-positives to you personally: which make you feel alive; which make you forget how exhausted you are; which make you so excited that you find a well of energy within yourself that you never knew existed.

Which you've had along; but which maybe you'd forgotten about.

❤️ Xuxo