I had been shivering for several days. The rain just kept coming. On and on and on, it never stopped. It was bordering on biblical. I don’t even think I remembered what it was like to feel dry again. And then the rains fell so heavy that the ground was disappearing. It was literally disappearing under water. Braided streams covered the whole expanse of the green tundra and a moat actually circled our tent. How our little tent managed to stay out of the path of rushing water I will never know. It was just dumb luck I guess. All I knew was that I desperately wanted to feel the warmth of the sun again. That’s all I cared about. That’s all I thought about. Then the next day the sun finally came out again. I felt the warmth of its rays on my face and cracked a satisfied smile. It felt good. I was truly happy.
Every single day that I spend in remote wilderness areas, especially in Alaska, I am very quickly reminded of how easy it is to be so happy. I find this amusing because I can’t help but remember how easy it was to be happy everyday when I was a kid. Seriously, think back to your childhood days. Now remember how little you needed to be truly happy. Going outside to play, hanging with friends, going swimming, birthday parties, ice cream. These simple things were the things I looked forward to most. And that’s all I needed to be happy. Every single day, that’s all I needed. Then I grew up. And the older I got the more complicated it seemed to find daily happiness. And the more complicated it got the less frequent it got. Being happy like a child was no longer something I could experience effortlessly everyday anymore.
Adulting sure has a way of robbing us of joy. Our lives are so full of responsibilities and to-do lists that our brains become chronically overloaded. Our days become so overwhelmed by the things that we have to do that we actually have to schedule time for fun. Happiness becomes work. This is why I believe that finding true happiness becomes more difficult as we age. But the good news is that we all still have the ability to be happy. Sometimes we just need to take a break from our busy daily lives to remember how. And the best way to do that is to get off the grid and spend time in the outdoors.
I know what you’re thinking, “Why can’t I just go out for drinks with my friends, go to a movie or even just go for hike on a local trail?”. Well, you can certainly do any of those things and I’ll bet you already do. But remember, you’re a complicated adult now. You can’t just go outside and play with your friends and hope to get the same results like when you were a kid. You have to step things up a notch now. Because the simple fact is that those quick and easy-to-get activities don’t have the same impact anymore. But don’t despair, there is a cure. And that cure is more cowbell, uh um, I mean you have to simply decomplicate your existence. I have found that the most effective way of doing this is to go deep into the wilderness and spend several days in the outdoors away from modern comforts and conveniences. When you go far enough into the mountains or desert that you lose cell service then you know you’re there.
When was the last time that you experienced pure joy from feeling the warmth of the sun on your cheek? The only thing you cared about was simply being warm and dry again. The dehydrated mashed potatoes, cheese and hot sauce that you ate for dinner was the best meal you can remember in a long time. You hadn’t even thought about bills or problems at work for days. Your life had been distilled down to the simple necessities of life. And in that moment you felt truly happy. This is what will happen. I promise you it will happen because I’ve experienced it countless times. And I’ve witnessed it happening countless times in many others over my long guiding career. I know that this may seem like a daunting, even impossible task. It might even seem a little scary. But trust me, you can do this.
I’ll never forget that mid-August day. For days I was so cold and wet that my only desire was to be warm and dry again. Otherwise, I had everything I needed. I had shelter, lots of food and great company. I only needed the rain to stop. Then it did. Those first few rays of sun on my cheek felt so warm. It felt so good. And I was happy.