You thought Steemit was Tough!!?!

Life is a battle to the top.

If you're happy where you are and content being what you are than I truly am happy for you. I wish I could be so content.

One of my journeys in life led me to plant trees in northern Ontario for a season. I thought tree planting was for "tree huggers," I thought I was doing my part for the environment and would have a ton of fun in the bush doing it. I have never been so wrong and the 60% of the rookies that quit by the last day probably had similar feelings before they set out. I never gave up, I stayed right until the last day, beaten and bruised but no regrets.

The terrain was rough and brutal. Uneven, surprise holes, loose rocks, snakes, hornet nests, bears and moose. It was by far the most difficult places I have ever stepped foot in. Not to mention the bugs. A never ending barrage of mosquito’s, horse flies, deer flies and horrors from scary movies you had hoped to forget. The nearest village was over an hour drive through winding gravel roads sometimes washed out by spring floods.

In this environment you have no choice but to suck it up and succeed. You are only worth the effort you put in. No hourly wage, no guaranteed salary or bonus available for simply showing up.

To go through the physical hell of tree planting trees and turning a profit is the most difficult and rewarding thing anyone could ever do with their bare hands.

Day after day of literally blood, sweat and tears; to go back to a small tent, surrounded by bugs covered in mud and bug bites thinking “I thought this would be fun”.

Once it’s over, once you get to the top of that rocky hill and clean the mud off your face, heal your wounds and vent your frustrations can you appreciate what you have truly accomplished. You can look over your achievements and take a picture and say “I did that”. It was hell and I loved every scratch and memory of it.

Actual photo of me

Of course it’s not all bad. Downtime, as the sunset and after filling our bellies with delicious food sitting around a campfire; it was like summer camp. A playful and talkative time to bond. Not to mention the huge paychecks.