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Posts tagged ‘climbing mountains’

Oct 21

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Finding my strong on the mountaintop

Can you be strong when your world falls apart?

As I awoke to the morning sunlight streaming across the ocean and into the bedroom window, I was reminded that Hurricane Irma had just hit my life. Sadness set in before the sleep was out of my eyes. How can you be strong when it feels as if your whole world has just fallen apart? I’ve survived some tough stuff, but I’m not sure I know how to do so while being strong.

I got out of bed and made my way outside to the wrap-around porch to drink my morning coffee and watch the tide slowly roll out, exposing the sea life on the ocean floor. Will those critters survive this tidal change, I wondered? What do they do when they become exposed and are gasping for air?

As I sit rather zombie-like starring out at the sea, I feel sad, mad, worried, empty, scared, tired, overly emotional, and…more. Feelings too exhausting to think about. And yet I find myself preoccupied with one question — what does it look like to be strong when the world as you know it is changing forever and not by choice? When bad things and challenging times pummel you with gale-force speed like an unforgiving Hurricane batters the shore, and you can’t fix it or change it.

This is not the first time I’ve been pummeled, of course, but this feels like the worst pummeling ever. (Most of the details don’t matter to the story — we all have times we experience this). What strikes me today is that I don’t think I’ve ever pondered this question in the midst of a pummeling.

Rather, I’ve wallowed, cried, complained, and suffered alone in my hurt and pain — drowning it with work, food, alcohol — and hiding from the outside world. And when other people experienced pain and suffering — I was the first one to show up. I gave, and gave and gave at the expense of myself, trying to fix it.

None of this feels right to me now. None of it fits my new Lori-in-the-equation life. And yet the pull to go back to bed and bury my head in the covers is strong. The pull to eat everything in sight — even stronger! I have a lot of experience with that.

But perhaps this is the next evolution of transformation for me. An opportunity to find my strongest and best self and learn to cope with “hard,” while loving and giving to her. So, I get curious again.

Can you be strong when your world falls apart? Read more

May 18

A girl and her mountain.

Lessons from the mountaintop — 200+ lbs lighter…
Celebrating 4 years of Lori-in-the-equation!

lori-oberg-anniversaryhike

2016 Anniversary Hike – Oberg Mountain

She climbed until she saw…Until she dropped the heavy weight she carried as a shield.

She climbed until she discovered she was enough, just exactly as she was.

She climbed and climbed and climbed until she found self-acceptance, self-love and compassion…until she mastered self-care as priority.

She climbed until she found a WHOLE life, not just a busy one. Until she learned to say no to things that no longer served her and YES! to the big wide-open world of possibilities.

She climbed, until she learned that indeed she could not only climb — she could FLY!

She climbed until she saw.

When I started my personal transformation journey, I also started this blog to document it. That was in Nov. 2010. At the time there was no question what the blog title would be — She Climbed Until She Saw.

Climbing mountains has been a metaphor for my transformation journey. Thus, at every milestone I find myself back on the mountaintop reflecting on the lessons and the gifts. Read more

Nov 28

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Five years ago, my new life began

And I simply could not have predicted this!

Lori_Before

My weight loss boot camp BEFORE shot taken five years ago today!

Five years ago today my personal transformation journey officially began. On Nov. 28, 2010, I arrived on the North Shore of Lake Superior to participate in a two-week, live-in weight loss boot camp (Think NBC’s Biggest Loser style camp).

I was terrified, nervous and hopeful.

Frankly, there was a tie for my biggest fear going into the camp. Topping the list was: Climbing mountains, working out to the point of throwing up, and crying in front of others. (ALL of these actually happened and I survived!)

Oh, and of course we can’t forget the intense fear of failing. I was so afraid that I’d quit when it got really, really, really hard. Read more

May 15

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3 lessons I learned on the mountaintop

NOTE: This week marks my 3-year anniversary living as a fit, active, healthy, happy girl from the center of her equation — maintaining a -200 lb weight loss. To celebrate, I’m working on a series of blogs sharing the lessons of the road of the past three years of healthy living. This is a continuing journey. It’s been the ride of a lifetime and I wouldn’t change a thing — even and especially the hard stuff.

Lori-ObergMountain-April2015

Hello mountain. Hello fresh spring air. Hello switchbacks and ascending trails….expansive and breathtaking views. Hello critters of the forest. It’s just us today. Just the way I like it. Good morning!

As I pass the entrance to Oberg Mountain and hit the ascending trail, this is my internal conversation — with myself and my mountain. It’s been months since we’ve met and it feels like coming home again.

Oberg — on the beautiful North Shore of Lake Superior — was the first mountain I ever climbed. And like a first love, it will always have a very special place in my heart.

That was not always the case. Read more

Dec 1

Climbing mountains…getting strong

She climbed until she saw…and saw…and saw…

Lorileif-oberg-bootcamp-bethprobstI love the quote, “She Climbed Until She Saw” by Compendium. And so it became the lori&leif-on-mountaintitle of this blog documenting my transformation journey over the last four years. A journey to health, happiness and personal growth.

It also became the metaphor for my transformation — for the internal work I needed to do to learn to love and accept myself  as enough. And for the physical mountains I would climb as part of my journey to weight loss.

It was in weight-loss boot camp that I climbed my very first mountain…and survived! I’ve now been climbing mountains for fitness and for pleasure every since. And I always look forward to both the physical challenge, and the mental one.

In November of 2010, as I readied for weight-loss boot camp, my dear friend Jean sent me this quote, which I’ve found myself reflecting on these past couple of days. I want to share it here again with you all because it is so representative of my journey and the struggles we all face going for our big, hairy, audacious goals — you know, the one(s) that have alluded you and that you say you’ll tackle someday. Here’s the poem — one of my favs.

Oct 13

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Finding my authentic self

One of the things I have always prided myself on is being authentic. To me, that means being “real.” It means my inner self and what I communicate to the outer world match. And it means being true to myself. I live my life trying to be genuine, faithful and trustworthy in each and every interaction. I always have. But wait! Read more

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