Article June 27, 2011 Issue

Reaching the peak

By Lily Oyer

A place where I always feel inspired is the Christian Science summer camp I go to. I always feel free to be myself there while I’m riding horses, kayaking, rappelling, or climbing mountains. 

This summer, while peaking Columbia—my second 14,000-foot mountain—I was really tired because I was carrying a big pack. 

We got an early start at about 4:00 in the morning, so it was dark and we were using flashlights to see where we were going. We decided to play an alphabet gratitude game where we shared things we were grateful for that started with each letter of the alphabet. Focusing on the good took my mind off thinking that my pack was too heavy and that I might have trouble hiking the four more hours to the top. 

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