An Unlikely Event
Back in October of 2014, my wife and I attended her friends grand opening for her new restaurant. It was down in Kingston, NY and it took us through the great Catskill Mountains. From that point on, it changed my life.
I have lived in Oneonta, New York most of my life. Actually, 31 of the 33 years I've been alive! It's about an hour and a half away from the Catskills and two hours minimum from the Adirondacks. It's a small city in the middle of the state. Not really much to do around there, but still a beautiful place to live. My family and I use to go through the Catskills all the time to visit family down in Long Island. I'm guessing since I was a kid, I never really got a grasp on how beautiful and close these mountains were to me. I knew that they were there, but I never thought of them like I do now.
I first got into hiking when my good friend Chadwick Von Hikesalot, took me on a trip through some stunning gorges and waterfalls in the Finger Lakes. He is very knowledgeable of hiking and has done hikes all around New York. We were joined by his friend, Sir Michael, who also is a knowledgeable hiker. They taught me their ways on hiking and it helped me out a lot, since I was just starting out. This wouldn't be our last hiking adventure together.
I guess you can say that one little drive changed a lot in me, but another event had a factor in it too. Back in 2013 my wife and I went on our honeymoon in Negril, Jamaica. I looked at life differently after that trip. Jamaica is a third world country and they have barely anything. Shack houses, very little food, no shoes, the list could go on and on, but they were happy. They had smiles on their faces and they weren't afraid to meet and greet a stranger(they might of been at you to get money, but they still had positive attitudes!). I realized, if they can have all that happiness with very little in their lives, I can have happiness with everything I have. I started making the rest of my life, the best of my life. Thinking that every possession, every moment, is worth it. The bad days are there to remind you that you have good ones to look forward to. I guess what I'm trying to say to you is........you have the rest of your life to have fun!!