The experience which reaffirmed my belief in miracles #TravelGoal

One of the places I was looking forward to visit in Bhutan was the Tiger’s nest. I knew its going to drag me out of my comfort zone and would require a lot of hard work to reach up there..and so it did!

When we started trekking to the nest I was super excitement and nervous. Wondered if I would reach the top. It was a cold day. I was traveling with a group of strangers turned friends but somehow wanted to complete this journey on my own. I am not sure why as I love having a company but I had to believe in my intuition telling me to go solo and so I did.

What unfolded itself was a series of events that took me by surprise and reaffirmed my belief in that great power/energy in the universe. Believe me the trek for me was really tough, I wasn't really fit to do it easily but that was not the reason I would give up.

Hiking those steep hills really took immense strength and at a point where I was midway I was gasping for breath. The oxygen level had reduced and I was not able to breath properly. I was panting heavily and trying to calm myself. In this moment i regretted going solo and cursed myself but still this voice told me to stay calm coz only relaxing myself will help at the moment. I started concentrating on my breathing and consoling myself. From no where this thought came on my mind - How great would it be if I can find a friend to hug right now. The power of hug can calm me down and someone hugged me from behind. I was in shock (also scared). This woman asked me to relax with her sweet voice and I did. They were a middle aged couple from India. Later the uncle told me that he tried stopping his wife but she didn't instead told him she feels that I could use a hug right now. Her gut told her so she did. Trust me I had goosebumps and tears in my eyes. I told them that's exactly what I wished for right now.

I took a 10 mins break to normalise my breathing and continued. Next came the steps. The descend was doable but then there's an ascend for the temple. It was killing me. By this time my body had completely given up, only my mind was dragging me. So much power our mind has. I always knew that but this time I was experiencing it. If your are strong headed then sky is the limit. Science tells us that our mind controls the other organs in my body. It sure does. I realised in that moment how important it is that we have control over our mind than the opposite.

The cold mountain air numbed the earlobe, yet there was a sweat on the brow careful of the young buds on the path, for into morrow's flower they shall grow and then as the heart beat against my rib,and limbs turn wooden sore I gathered my stick and bones and climbed the hill some more.

But now I had zero (rather negative) strength in my legs and so I sat down on the steps and put my head down. Anyway I was climbing only 4 steps at a time coz I was "that" exhausted. I could see the temple entrance from here but I had started convincing my mind by now that we should give up now. Its great that I could reach here, see I can see the gate as well. This is an achievement in itself. Then that voice told me what a loser I am. It was a battle within me, so hopeless. Then someone poke my shoulder and I looked up. There was this young bhutanese girl with a beautiful smile on her face. She sat beside me and asked me if I'm fine. I told her I have no strength to reach the temple so I guess will end my trek here relax for sometime and will start my way back down. I told her how important it was for me to reach the temple coz that will reassure me later in life that I can achieve anything. This generous girl offered me her water. I resisted drinking it (guilty to consume someone's share of water) but she insisted so I drank some. Later she told me it was holy water which she just got from the temple and was probably meant for me :)

After almost giving up but continuing to move forward I reached the Tiger's nest (Yayyy). I cried out as I reached the top looking down at the valley. Feeling so content and happy with my accomplishment. That feeling is indescribable but have stayed with me. It will remind me that I can overcome anything if I put in all my efforts, ofcourse with some help from the universe whenever faced with difficulty in life.

This trek was a complete experience that will live with me as long as I do.

My excursion to Bhutan's Tiger Nest Monastery proved itself to be an invitation for a journey of self exploration. After hiking for almost 4 hours, saw this beautiful Tiger’s nest in front of my eyes and all the difficulty to reach here felt worth it!

It had its own spiritual characteristic - one that a silent soul always seeks in a chaotic world -and a silence that spoke a thousand words.

Experience of a lifetime.Being my own miracle. Grateful.