It’s Only 3 Minutes

It was hot yesterday, the kind of stupid hot that when you step outside makes you wish you never did. It’s the kind of heat, coupled with humidity, that makes breathing tough and the sweat pour profusely from every pore. So why not go for a hike? Well, that’s what we decided to do in Acadia, and not some simple, level, hike around a lake. Well, we did that, but the end was a scramble 500’ up to an overlook. It was worth it, but as in yesterday, some in our family needed a little motivation. Although it wasn’t quite as bad as the day before, it still took some effort and even once hiking on level ground, I found myself in the rear of our little pack, pulling on every little motivational nugget I could find to get feet and legs other than my own to move forward in a steady and meaningful way. I made it happen, but I found myself falling back on my 3 minute mantra I had been using for years whenever my children asked “are we there yet?” or “how much farther?”

My answer to those questions, was and still is, “3 minutes, only 3 minutes away.” While it could be frustrating at times for them, often bring forth a jeer or a snicker, sometimes a laugh, after thinking about it further, I broke it down for my daughter yesterday when she said she wished the real was straight so she could see the end. At that moment, I realised the true meaning and purpose of my 3 minute mantra. As I went on to explain to her, if the trail is straight, it can seem likes it’s taking forever to get to the end, there is less excitement and corners of the trail to wonder what’s around the next. Having a trail that twists and turns also allows us to break the hike down into segments, shorter goals to achieve in the process of achieving the larger one, the summit and view at the end. So to does breaking things down into 3 minute segments allow for smaller goals to be achieved. (Maybe 3 minutes is too short, but I can’t change it now!). If we make it 3 more minutes, then another 3, before we know it we are at the end looking down from the summit.

The same is true not just about hiking? But anything we do in life. If we break things down into manageable segments that together constitute the overall goal or job or mission, then it can make it easier to achieve. It doesn’t matter how we get there, only that we get there at our own pace, in broken down segments or in one large sprint. For me I know “3 minute” segments help things become easier. Just make it to the next corner. Just finish painting that one wall. Just finish writing that one page. Whatever it is, break it down, so 3 minutes at a time, and it’ll be over before you know it.

As for the hike, my wife and daughter did not make it to the summit, but it wasn’t for lack of trying, the heat just got to be too much. And sometimes, while I mentioned yesterday we can do more than we think we can, external stimuli can in fact limit what we can do. My son and I made it to the top, and later in the day, in 93 degree heat, climbed up Cadillac Mountain ascending 1300’ over 2 miles in an hour. I’m hurting a little today, but we did it, just had to make it around the next bend, climb over one more rock, make it 3 more minutes.