Only When I Step On It Quotes

“then whisked me away to the Misty Mountain Inn and Cabins. It was a beautiful bed and breakfast that Jason and his wife had purchased”
― Peter Conti, Only When I Step On It: One Man's Inspiring Journey to Hike The Appalachian Trail Alone

“Champions aren’t made in gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them. A desire, a dream, a vision. They have to have last-minute stamina, they have to be a little faster, they have to have the skill and the will. But the will must be stronger than the skill. —Muhammad Ali”
― Peter Conti, Only When I Step On It: One Man's Inspiring Journey to Hike The Appalachian Trail Alone

“Your best life is waiting for you right now; all you need to do is reach out and grab it.”
― Peter Conti, Only When I Step On It: One Man's Inspiring Journey to Hike The Appalachian Trail Alone

“I can confidently tell you that anything you or I really want to do can be accomplished if you just break it down into bite-sized pieces that you can handle each day.”
― Peter Conti, Only When I Step On It: One Man's Inspiring Journey to Hike The Appalachian Trail Alone

“Giving up meant resigning myself to a life filled with pain. Pain that was likely to never get better.”
― Peter Conti, Only When I Step On It: One Man's Inspiring Journey to Hike The Appalachian Trail Alone

“In most cases, you can’t or won’t get everything you want overnight, but you can choose the path you’re going to follow. And by choosing your own path, you can become who you’re meant to be, making your way through the long journey that we call life.”
― Peter Conti, Only When I Step On It: One Man's Inspiring Journey to Hike The Appalachian Trail Alone

“I saw a falling star and made a wish that I might soon be home in my wife’s arms.”
― Peter Conti, Only When I Step On It: One Man's Inspiring Journey to Hike The Appalachian Trail Alone

“Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will. —Mahatma Gandhi”
― Peter Conti, Only When I Step On It: One Man's Inspiring Journey to Hike The Appalachian Trail Alone

“If you think something is going to be difficult, then it will be. If you can get yourself to believe that you can do it, then anything’s possible.”
― Peter Conti, Only When I Step On It: One Man's Inspiring Journey to Hike The Appalachian Trail Alone

“And that’s one of the secrets when you’re hurt—don’t focus on what you can’t do. Focus on what you CAN do.”
― Peter Conti, Only When I Step On It: One Man's Inspiring Journey to Hike The Appalachian Trail Alone

“You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have. —Bob Marley”
― Peter Conti, Only When I Step On It: One Man's Inspiring Journey to Hike The Appalachian Trail Alone

“I’ve found during my life that our thoughts can affect the way we respond to the world around us. Rather than just accepting the negative thoughts that pop into our minds, I think it makes more sense to choose the thoughts we want to hear.”
― Peter Conti, Only When I Step On It: One Man's Inspiring Journey to Hike The Appalachian Trail Alone

“I can heal myself. I am healing each and every day. I can hike the entire Appalachian Trail.”
― Peter Conti, Only When I Step On It: One Man's Inspiring Journey to Hike The Appalachian Trail Alone

“You have to embrace the suck.”
― Peter Conti, Only When I Step On It: One Man's Inspiring Journey to Hike The Appalachian Trail Alone

“Rock Bottom Became A SOLID Foundation on Which I Rebuilt My Life”
― Peter Conti, Only When I Step On It: One Man's Inspiring Journey to Hike The Appalachian Trail Alone

“When we find fault in others, it’s often because of the concerns we have about our own abilities.”
― Peter Conti, Only When I Step On It: One Man's Inspiring Journey to Hike The Appalachian Trail Alone

“One Day This Pain Will Make Sense to You”
― Peter Conti, Only When I Step On It: One Man's Inspiring Journey to Hike The Appalachian Trail Alone

“For Those That Look at The Reasons Why You Cannot Do Something, Perhaps You Are Looking at it The Wrong Way. Consider Why You Must.”
― Peter Conti, Only When I Step On It: One Man's Inspiring Journey to Hike The Appalachian Trail Alone

“The aching, burning sensations in my leg reminded me of why I was there. I guess you could call it a mission. I was determined to heal myself.”
― Peter Conti, Only When I Step On It: One Man's Inspiring Journey to Hike The Appalachian Trail Alone

“Strength Doesn’t Come From What You Can Do. Strength Comes From Overcoming The Things You Once Thought You Couldn’t.”
― Peter Conti, Only When I Step On It: One Man's Inspiring Journey to Hike The Appalachian Trail Alone

“You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have. —Bob Marley”
― Peter Conti, Only When I Step On It: One Man's Inspiring Journey to Hike The Appalachian Trail Alone

“As crazy as all of this may sound to you, I know that our brains are able to control so many things depending on how we think about something. About twenty years ago, a business partner and I taught real estate investing seminars. One of the most significant factors that affects someone’s success in real estate, or any other endeavor, is belief. I’ve heard it said that if you believe you can or if you believe you can’t, either way, you’re right. Suppose you really honestly believe that you’ll succeed in real estate or any other endeavor. In that case, you’re about 1,000 times more likely to put in the effort and stick with it. If you don’t believe you’re going to succeed, then most people put in next to no effort to basically prove themselves right when nothing happens. At our seminars, we would demonstrate this by teaching the concept of “Spots.” We explained that according to an ancient methodology, we all have a weak spot and a strong spot. Speaking in a strong, confident voice, we’d say, “Here’s your strong spot right here,” and demonstrate this by touching the center of our forehead. “You also have a weak spot” (speaking in a softer, weaker voice). “It’s located in the soft fleshly spot right here behind your ear.” We again demonstrated and encouraged them to follow along. Then to give it a little emphasis, we added, “Careful, don’t push it too much, or you’ll get really weak!” Then we said, “We’ll show you how this actually works,” and invited one of the stronger-looking participants up onto the stage. We’d touch the person in their “strong” spot and ask them to hold their arm straight out to the side. “Now I’m going to push down on your arm, and I want you to resist me as much as you can.” We’d push down with a decent amount of effort, and our client’s arm would not budge down at all. “Now I’m going to touch your weak spot” (touching the person behind their ear). “And watch as I’m now able to push their arm completely down.” The crazy thing is that no matter how hard the subject tries to hold their arm up, after touching their “weak” spot, it drops right down with much less effort than during the first attempt. Then we said, “Now I want you to prove this to yourself. Pair up with the person next to you to test this out for yourself.” The room would buzz with the sounds of people talking as they discovered that the strong and weak spots really did, for the most part, work. Then we would switch the spots. “Isn’t it crazy that just because we told you to push on the strong spot behind your ear, that made you really strong? And when we told you to push on the weak spot in the middle of your forehead, that made you really weak?” we’d say. “No, no, you’ve got them backward!” the crowd would shout at us. At which point, we’d demonstrate that the spots worked just as well if you switched them, finally telling them, “We actually made all this up—but it works anyway!” What you tell yourself and what you believe really does make a difference. I don’t know if this helps to explain why I was hiking the Appalachian Trail. I was passionately committed to the belief that if I hiked the entire Appalachian Trail, then my foot and leg were going to have to be better. Each day that I hiked, with every mile further north that I went, heck, with every single step I took, I was reclaiming my life. I know that anything is possible. My adventure on the trail proved this to me each and every day. 14 May—Finding a Buddy You Can’t Avoid Pain, But You Can Choose to Overcome it. —Paulo Coelho Two and a half hours after leaving Shenandoah National Park, I arrived home.”
― Peter Conti, Only When I Step On It: One Man's Inspiring Journey to Hike The Appalachian Trail Alone

“A few weeks after my injury, when I was in the rehab center, I found someone willing to travel to the center to give me a massage. Partway through, she suggested trying something called Reiki. This is where instead of touching you, the masseuse waves their hands through the air over you to “adjust your energy fields.” You can probably tell by the way that I describe this that I think this is a bunch of BS. Does it work for some people? Of course it does. The placebo effect can work with any type of treatment or medication by providing someone with an improvement if and when they expect to get one. The nice doctor in the white lab coat gives you some pills and says, “Take two of these each morning, and your pain should feel much better.” The medication that the doctor gives you could be nothing more than sugar pills. Still, if you really believe that you’ll benefit from it, your brain finds a way to make at least some improvement come true. In double-blind studies, it’s been proven that the placebo effect can provide as much as a 32 percent improvement. Because of this, for new drugs to be approved in the US, they need to test at a level that’s higher than the 32 percent placebo level of improvement. So, if I’d believed in Reiki, then I may have experienced some benefit from it, but I don’t, so I didn’t get anything out of the treatment. That said, I think it’s interesting that when dealing with chronic pain, the temptation is to try almost anything, no matter how crazy it sounds. The hope is that maybe, just maybe, you’ll be able to get some relief from your ongoing pain.”
― Peter Conti, Only When I Step On It: One Man's Inspiring Journey to Hike The Appalachian Trail Alone

“It’s taken three years for me to begin to accept that I may never heal completely from my injury. I decided while hiking that I probably won’t be able to run again—ever. And I’m okay with that. I decided that I’d rather focus on what I CAN do rather than focus on what I CAN’T do. If I weren’t injured, it’s likely that I’d never have decided to hike the trail. It’s not what happens to you. It’s what you do about it. With all that said, this was a day to celebrate.”
― Peter Conti, Only When I Step On It: One Man's Inspiring Journey to Hike The Appalachian Trail Alone

“When we find fault in others, it’s often because of the concerns we have about our own abilities.”
― Peter Conti, Only When I Step On It: One Man's Inspiring Journey to Hike The Appalachian Trail Alone