For my birthday this year, I took a day trip down to Colorado Springs to explore and take on the Manitou Incline. It’s located in Manitou Springs and gains 2,000 feet of elevation from start to finish. It’s a total of 2,768 steps and one tough workout. Most people want to go out for a nice dinner or spend time with their families. Not me, I wanted to challenge myself and climb some stairs. My day started at 4 am because my reservation for the Manitou Incline was at 6:30 am, and I wanted to see the Garden of the Gods before tackling the incline.

Letting go of the past is breaking free from what was. It’s breaking a free from a cycle to move forward from dwelling on what you used to have and moving on to something new. Finding yourself stuck in the past is a part of being human. We aren’t perfect and make mistakes, and sometimes those mistakes haunt us for days, months, and even years. Let’s explore what drives us to get stuck in the past and ways we can move forward.

May marked the end of the spring semester and the start of summer break. Bring on the fun! The last few months have mainly been focused on both work and school, so it’s been nice to get out of my routine. In May, I went hiking with one of my friends to Staunton State Park. It’s about a thirty-minute drive from Denver. We spent most of the day hiking through the mountains and before heading home grabbed a bite to eat. Hiking is something I love doing, but haven’t done a lot of lately. When I live in Kansas City there weren’t a lot of nearby hiking spots. If you wanted to get out and good for a good hike you had to drive out a few hours to do so. May was also a month of self-reflection.