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1. I'll Start Tomorrow...

Writer's picture: Jane MacKenzie-HoskynJane MacKenzie-Hoskyn

Updated: Aug 5, 2023



1. I'll Start Tomorrow...

In November 2022, I decided that I had had enough! Enough of feeling guilty. Enough of feeling fat. Enough of feeling unfit. Enough of saying, “I’ll start tomorrow.”


I had been watching my sons achieve amazing goals in the mountains and felt like a really bad role model. A bad mother… generally bad. My younger son, after undergoing traumatic brain surgery, had run a 100 kilometre mountain race well under his goal time, while my older son, inspired by his brother’s journey, also became a mountain goat of note!


Once upon a time, I was a marathon and ultra marathon runner, but none, absolutely none, of that fitness remained a couple of decades later. I felt like a phoney, someone who extolled the values of fitness and health, yet put work above everything else. What a Wally!


IT WAS TIME TO CHANGE!


So, on Sunday 13 November 2022, I made a change. I woke up that morning with a wild idea - why not explore the nearby forest? Armed with enthusiasm and an unwavering spirit of determination, I made up my mind!


No fancy lycra outfits, no ‘break the bank’ hiking shoes - just me and my old denim gardening shirt, my favourite old sun hat and my cheap old ‘running’ shoes. Yes - I took them for a little walk in the forest that nestles in the foothills of the Outeniqua Mountains in the Garden Route of South Africa. I must admit, I was not exactly the fittest old duck out there, and the thought of a battle of the hills didn’t really appeal to me.

But, this was exactly the change that I needed! I walked up the first hill and was soon red-faced and hot and bothered, but, within minutes, I was walking through the most beautiful green indigenous forest with the shadows of tree ferns sliding across my face and tall trees towering over me. I felt alive, privileged and inspired. Leaves crunched underfoot, little brown jobbies flitted from branch to branch while they chirped and tweeted, and secret, hidden streams tinkled deep in the foliage. The aroma of damp moss and pines was invigorating.



It wasn’t all sunshine and roses. At some stage I had to turn back - into the heat and the hills! I huffed and puffed up those mini-mountains, and began questioning my life choices.


Why had I allowed myself to become so unfit? How had I not discovered this beauty before? Why had I deprived myself of such joy for so long? Why had I not conquered my laziness and embraced the great outdoors earlier? Why did I prioritise work over health?


PROCRASTINATION! Yes, years and years and years of procrastination!


So, if you're an unfit wannabe adventurer like I was a few short months ago, don't let that stop you from exploring nature. Embrace the forest, the wildlife, and all the challenges that come your way – trust me, it's an experience you won't regret!


Sunday the thirteenth of November, 2022, changed my life!


Come with me - explore the great hills, mountains and forests that give us life.


You can do it!


Jane the Staggerer

Mountain Mom








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