Finding True Happiness Through Outdoor Adventures

I quit my corporate job in mid-2019 (pre shut downs) to free myself. I stopped wearing high heels every day which used to distort my calf muscles and cause cramps and skeletal deformations. Nowadays hiking 25 miles and 5700 gain in a day feels not only possible but refreshing. I hike at least 600 miles a year because it makes me super happy and is good for my health and relationships. I ceased spending money to impress others and now only buy what I need to take myself further or make myself comfortable, suddenly my disposable income skyrocketed and my “expenses” dwindled. I forfeited trying to look perfect for people that didn’t matter, quit my luxe $$$ beauty routines, and opted for a lifestyle that makes me FEEL beautiful and happy. Saved at least $4000/year to make this shift and people keep mistaking me for being in my 20s (this part I find really wild because all the beauty products actually made me appear older). I resigned from sitting for 2400 hours per year in front of a screen, in an office with no windows, ac, and horrible lighting and swapped out time outside, on the road, working from anywhere. Now I don’t need to attend “happy hours” to feel like I’m not killing my soul, because all the hours have become so much happier. I even quit drinking almost 2 years ago because I don’t feel I need to numb or escape my own life these days. I no longer experience the carpal tunnel that used to keep me up at night, my arthritis is pretty nonexistent, and my former knee pain is a ghost of the past. I can now climb, canyoneer, tie knots, sail, mountaineer, and do all these things my former lifestyle physically prohibited because my habits destroyed my body’s ability to perform. Do I regret quitting? Absolutely not. Things don’t matter to me. People who value status over character are not my kinda people. Titles and status are not things I inquire about when meeting others because who they are has nothing to do with what they do if it doesn’t make their soul come alive. Do what makes you happy and see what you’ll become capable of. We get one life. Don’t let it go by doing things that make you want to numb yourself to feel alive