{"id":407,"date":"2018-03-10T22:06:39","date_gmt":"2018-03-11T08:06:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/delisahargrove\/?p=407"},"modified":"2018-03-10T22:23:47","modified_gmt":"2018-03-11T08:23:47","slug":"shattering-limiting-beliefs-koko-head-crater-stairs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/delisahargrove\/2018\/03\/shattering-limiting-beliefs-koko-head-crater-stairs\/","title":{"rendered":"Shattering Limiting Beliefs: Koko Head Crater Stairs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Do you have anything(s) in your life that you just tell yourself you cannot do? Listening to my self-talk reveals my conscious and subconscious limits.<\/p>\n

One item\u00a0on the \u201ccannot do\u201d list is Koko Head Crater Peak.\u00a0 It\u2019s a trail of 1,048 misshapen railway ties, aka steps, straight up Koko Crater.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Koko Head stairs PC: Nancy Maxwell<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The trail is easily visible from the road.\u00a0 I\u2019ve looked at that mountain with its railway ties since 2010 when we moved to Oahu. Actually, I saw it while vacationing on Oahu several years before that.<\/p>\n

My constant reaction was \u201cNope.\u201d I didn\u2019t have any desire to climb those 1,000 stairs. But when I really confronted myself about my \u201capathy,\u201d I realized I avoided Koko Head because I feared failure.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t think I could do it.<\/p>\n

July 4, 1991, I climbed the traditional location of Mount Sinai.\u00a0 We began the climb at 3:00 AM\u00a0and used the light of the moon as our guide.\u00a0 It was 3,700 stone steps.\u00a0 Many of the steps were easy to traverse, like a stairway.\u00a0 But as we climbed higher, the steps became more irregular and difficult.<\/p>\n

I was physically fit and in the best shape of my life.\u00a0 Those stairs nearly did me in, brutalizing my flatlander muscles. I made it to the summit in time for sunrise, but I did it suffering. I climbed those stairs to find holy space at the summit and in my heart.<\/p>\n

Koko Head Crater had nowhere\u00a0near the same emotional or spiritual draw.<\/p>\n

My friend and I climbed Kuliou\u2019ou Ridge Trail last week. The last bit to the summit is about 200 stairs. I suffered. Why would I climb Koko Head\u2019s 1,000 stairs when I know that I suffer?<\/p>\n

The Catalyst<\/h3>\n

A few weeks ago, my friend Osiris posted that she wanted to celebrate her birthday with a sunrise hike to Koko Head. She said it was her very favorite hike on the island and she wanted to do it with friends.<\/p>\n

Laughing, I said I was afraid of the stairs. At that point, I realized I didn\u2019t believe I could do it. That is very different from not wanting to do something. I felt annoyed. After everything I\u2019ve overcome in my life, I limited myself by some stairs?<\/p>\n

I mentally committed, knowing that my trajectory would not be everyone else\u2019s trajectory. Another friend, Vanessa, had expressed similar sentiments previously. We committed to go together\u2026earlier than everyone so that when the others passed us, we\u2019d be closer to the top.<\/p>\n

Other friends expressed interest.\u00a0 Since it\u2019s an hour drive from our area, we all decided to carpool. I literally felt an anxious despair in my stomach knowing that we didn\u2019t have our extra window. But the plan to go together was efficient, practical, and solid.<\/p>\n

\"\"
View of Molokai from Koko Head summit<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Execution<\/h3>\n

At 4:30 AM, I rolled out of bed. At 5:00AM, I was in the meetup parking lot and piled into the TanVan with six other women. At 6:00 AM we piled out of the van in Koko Head\u2019s parking lot.<\/p>\n

I stared at the mountain\u2019s silhouette in the moonlight. Headlamps\/flashlights roamed up and down the stairs. I couldn\u2019t believe that it still looked so unforgiving in darkness.<\/p>\n

The birthday girl arrived with other friends.\u00a0 Our headstart evaporated on every front. Everyone stood chatting in the parking lot.<\/p>\n

Debbie, an observant friend, noted my expression while staring into the dark expanse, and said she\u2019d start the climb with me. I asked Vanessa if she felt ready to go. That was the impetus for us all to head.<\/p>\n

I felt drained in the first few steps.\u00a0 I\u2019d built up such a resistance to the stairs in my mind, my body reacted to them instantly. We asked our friends to go ahead. Debbie stayed with us since she\u2019d done the trail several times.<\/p>\n

So began the climb. Stair after stair after stair, minute after minute after minute, break after break after break. As dawn flooded the sky, I knew I wouldn\u2019t make sunrise at the summit, even though we were so close.\u00a0 Vanessa and Debbie chatted, both faring much better than me, but sticking relatively close.<\/p>\n

As the steep incline turned vertical at the end, I found myself grabbing at the railway ties to keep upright. I had to stop constantly. I felt my leg muscles straining. Sometimes my muscles hurt the following day after a hike, but never in the act of it. I couldn\u2019t even think about the descent with such exhausted muscles and knees.<\/p>\n

So I kept looking toward the summit. I knew exactly what I had left to do. I knew the goal.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Victorious us with birthday girl, Osiris<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I could see Malia and Roxanne, then Nancy and Natalie at the landing. They\u2019d already been at the summit to see the sunrise and then came back to the stairs\u2019 end to cheer us on.<\/p>\n

We\u2019d passed some men taking a breather.\u00a0 They started again with us. I pulled to the side to let them pass and suggested they go by (like the hundreds of other people had) and one guy laughed and said, \u201cNo. You go first. I like your pace.\u201d<\/p>\n

That cracked me up. But it also lit a little more fire.\u00a0 So close to the top.\u00a0 I just wanted to finish. I had to finish. Push, push, climb, climb, stair, stair, stair, stair, stair. Malia cheered with her\u00a0phone pointed at us. I asked Debbie to go first. I just didn\u2019t really feel catwalk ready sweating profusely with my tomato red flushed cheeks.<\/p>\n

I saw the stairs end. They really ended!<\/p>\n

Surge of adrenaline pushed me to that point and then past it.<\/p>\n

\"\"
As I surged to the end of the stairs. PC Malia Bond<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With gratitude, I stepped onto the dirt path to the summit. I actually laughed, which I hadn\u2019t done in an hour, when I felt the wind.\u00a0 Heavenly.<\/p>\n

We spent our time taking pictures at the various pillboxes and spots at Koko Head\u2019s peak.\u00a0 Glorious views met every gaze. I spotted Molokai across the sea. I love staring out at sea from such a vantage point.<\/p>\n

I knew I\u2019d eventually have to go down those 1,000 stairs.<\/p>\n

Again we started on the trek as a group. Vanessa rocked the downward trek. We \u201ckept up\u201d with the other girls for awhile, but then the distance grew significantly.\u00a0 Vanessa let me set our pace. She was so kind. We chatted.<\/p>\n

I watched for stair numbers on the rails to find mental support.<\/p>\n

When Vanessa and I hit the spot where the steps are suspended over a drop, I just didn\u2019t think I\u2019d have enough stability to do that very easily.\u00a0 I grabbed her hand inadvertently when I tipped on the first stair.\u00a0 I found such stability, I asked if I could just hold her hand through that portion. So we held hands like 5-year-old besties and charged down that section. I might still be on the mountain at that section with wobbly knees and hamstrings without her steady hand.<\/p>\n

So obviously we finally made it down. As we neared the end of the stairs, we saw the TanVan girls waiting patiently for our descent.\u00a0 Yay! We\u2019d all done it!<\/p>\n

\"\"
Me and Vanessa triumphant, with Koko Head Crater in the background<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

That limiting belief is shattered!! I could do it!\u00a0 Regardless of my physical and mental limitations, will and grit\u00a0persevered. My takeaway is that we can overcome any limitations!\u00a0 Weak things can be strong!<\/p>\n

We can shatter limiting beliefs! We can do hard things.<\/p>\n

What will you prove to yourself you can do?<\/p>\n

My next \u201ccannot do it\u201d to shatter may be to eat a squash.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Do you have anything(s) in your life that you just tell yourself you cannot do? Listening to my self-talk reveals my conscious and subconscious limits. One item\u00a0on the \u201ccannot do\u201d list is Koko Head Crater Peak.\u00a0 It\u2019s a trail of 1,048 misshapen railway ties, aka steps, straight up Koko Crater. The trail is easily visible […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3071,"featured_media":413,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[16,3,17],"class_list":["post-407","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-realization","tag-choose","tag-overcoming-trials","tag-weakness"],"yoast_head":"\nShattering Limiting Beliefs: Koko Head Crater Stairs - Spiritual Truth Seeker \u2013 My Tesserae<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Do you have anything(s) in your life that you just tell yourself you cannot do? 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