Day 11: A Moment of Strength in the Wild
Reflect on a time when you felt your strongest outdoors
Hey there, Heroine,
Nature has a way of revealing our strength—sometimes in quiet moments, sometimes in the middle of a challenge we didn’t think we could handle.
Your prompt for Day 11:
Reflect on a time when you felt your strongest outdoors. Write about it.
Maybe it was reaching the summit of a tough hike, braving a solo camping trip, or simply showing up for yourself on a morning walk when you didn’t feel like it. Strength isn’t always about pushing limits—it can also be about choosing to keep going, to be present, to trust yourself in the wild.
As you reflect, ask yourself: What did that moment teach me about my own resilience? How can I carry that strength into my everyday life?
Share your story in the comments or on Substack Notes, and tag it with #LoveTheWild. Your strength—whatever form it takes—is worth celebrating.
With admiration for your courage,
Jill
Welp, this topic spoke to me!
Today I felt strong in the outdoors as my husband and I dug out my car from a snow bank! We had gone to my parents' empty-until-spring house to retrieve some snow shoes for a friend to borrow, and I took one look at their driveway and said, "That looks like a good place to get stuck. I'll just walk up to the house."
I returned ten minutes later to find the car spectacularly buried, and my husband shaking his head, muttering "I don't know what I was thinking..."
My standard trick of putting the floor mats behind the tires for extra traction did not work, in part because the snow was packed up like cement under the front half of the car. Thank goodness for my trekking poles, which came in handy for breaking up the snow pack.
There we were, each one of us laying in the snow on each side of the car, stabbing and scooping to break up the snow and then move it out from under the car.
I was supremely proud of my self control in not saying anything... credit to a counselor a few years ago who asked me, "Is it more important to you to be right or to make progress?"
After about 30 minutes of scrabbling on the snowy ground, we could see daylight in all directions under the car, instead of a wall of snow. We had a few false starts with spinning tires before we finally got the floor mats tucked under the tires just right, and breathed a sigh of relief as the tires finally took purchase and we backed out.
One hot shower and set of dry clothes later, I'm feeling proud that we got out of there on our own without a harsh word between us (other than the occasional "F#@>!" muttered in exasperation).
And a reminder to my fellow residents of the north: A shovel, bag of cat litter, and some snow pants are never a bad idea to keep in your car!
I really felt like calling in sick tonight…It’s my last 12 hour shift before I leave for vacation on Thursday(driving to Florida). In the last 12 days I have worked 11 of them. The hospitals have been crazy busy with Influenza A patients and they are short staffed. The extra hours will be really nice as this Florida trip is my Christmas present for my adult kids and grandkids. They are flying to Florida on Saturday but my husband and I are driving to save a little $ on only having to get one rental car…but the extra $ from these shifts will help pay for excursions and splurging on eating out if we feel inclined.
Anyways, I feel like my backpacking trips have helped me build some grit and resilience for pushing through hard things. Sometimes on a long distance hike, the day might not have beautiful vistas and scenery…it can sometimes feel like trudging, or it’s rained multiple days in a row…
Needless to say I didn’t call in sick….I’m pushing through this last shift…to reach tbe Summit.