"There are seasonal friends. . , you can't grow without losing friends", this was the line of one of the famous social media influencers that creates waves among friendship circle in my country. I for one, fell into deep thinking and reflection on how is my connection to my friends and to my old friends offline, (who I lose?) and more importantly, I was able to contemplate if am I able to build friendships right now in this season of my life (who am I gaining?)
Making friends come easily but cultivating a lasting and strong relationship with them is rare. I am a friend to all of my workmates and to most people I come across with (yes, I am very friendly and a smiling person as my name suggests 😄), but there are only very few of them that I was able to build a strong relationship and spend our time together even after work.
Not all summits are reached at the peak; some are reached within the depths of the heart.
I must admit, the only connections I have with my old friends even the ones I cherished is the online world. So it was the last thing I expected to have found fresh friends, to have found people with whom I could share my favorite recreational activity, my love for hiking and climbing mountains, and do it together.
Hiking and climbing.
It all started with a simple conversation about the things we do on a weekend until I mentioned my passion for hiking and climbing mountains and we found ourselves agreeing to meet as early as 6 AM in a place for our start-off hike.
At first, I thought, this will be the first and last time we will hike and climb mountains together as we were mothers and we have plenty of things to attend to on weekends. But the experience was followed by another hike, until another climb came, not just once, twice but we were doing it already on weekends and on during holidays.
Conquering peaks, building friendships.
The hikes and climbs we spent together were never been boring and tiring. Yes, indulging in nature is NEVER boring and exhausting but it feels different when you do it with friends. Every adventure we had is also an opportunity for us to know each other better and create a solid bond same as those peaks we conquered.
By the time we reach the peak, after satisfying each of our inner selves with the richness of nature, a deep conversation among us always followed. Guess what? it feels great talking about life, our work, our dreams, our ideas, our secrets, pains, and happiness on top. Little do we know that we are not only conquering mountains but we were able to cultivate friendships.
These are a few of the adventures that we shared together which I believe is one of the best ingredients in the friendship that we created.
Mt. Campitlok Hike
This was the first hike we do together and I was so happy that not only we reconnected to nature but we also started a connection among ourselves.
Unlimited chitchats under the very beautiful weather and the refreshing wind of the mountain.
Liog-liog Peak
Another beautiful hike. This time we were bringing plenty of food with us!
Tindog Bato Peak
One of our hard yet very fulfilling climbs. We hike and climbed for a total of 5 hours!
Exploring Cave.
We had so much fun exploring this cave. We were crawling and laughing. That was a good experience and bonding.
Making stops and another long conversation! Haha.
Reflections:
Hiking and climbing mountains will not only make you feel energized, and reconnected to nature, It's more fulfilling when you do it with friends because not only you will see the beauty of the world but the beauty of your friend's heart. Try it. It's cost-free and is the best exercise.😍
That's it for my participation in this week's engagement by sir 
Don't forget to smile often!😍🤗