Ubehebe Crater to Eureka Dunes Challenge | Death Valley National Park | California | United States

Suffering is one of the five challenging states of being — alongside dislike, discomfort, fear, and pain. These states of being are the fuel, currency, and price in terms of effort we must pay daily to produce well-being, or to feel well on a sustainable basis. Once we fully comprehend this concept, we do all in our power to pay this price daily, because we all want to feel well every day.

The plan: The goal was to walk and run from Ubehebe Crater to the Eureka Dunes — the tallest sand dunes in California — taking the most direct route possible. The greater the effort exerted to reach a goal, the higher the benefits — and the higher the sense of achievement.

The Route: Starting at Ubehebe Crater, rather than taking the 44-mile Death Valley Road and South Eureka Road, I headed in a straight line across Eureka Valley and the Last Chance Mountains toward the Eureka Dunes, navigating through canyons, steep terrain, and sections requiring minor scrambling.

Paying this price is being a generous well-being trader. It entails applying the concept of sacrifice in relation to our goals, whether they are more mental, emotional, or physical in nature. We consciously trade something of lower value — deliberate and temporary engagement with challenging states of being — for something of higher value — a sense of achievement, satisfaction, happiness, fulfillment, and well-being.

To help us produce well-being through the concept of sacrifice, implement the concept of Reality Chiropracting, framework number 6 of Pure Love World Life Coaching.

The Challenge: The route was entirely off trail, with some uncertainty about what lay ahead. I carried only 4 liters of water and no food throughout the entire journey.

Ubehebe Crater to Eureka Dunes Challenge

We experience these challenging states of being in the form of resistance. To maximize the benefits we reap from our efforts, whether we want more well-being or a higher sense of achievement, we simply increase the resistance. We achieve this by increasing the intensity of these challenging states we must overcome in the process of achieving our goals. We can only reap these benefits when we overcome the resistance that we face in the process of achieving our goals without quitting.

Feeling better episode 4 – Deliberate and temporary suffering Produces Well-Being

Sunrise, Eureka Valley, Death Valley National Park

Looking at Eureka Dunes from Last Chance Mountains, Death Valley National Park

Looking at the Last Chance Mountains from the Eureka Dunes, Death Valley National Park, California

Heading back to the Last Chance Mountains from the Eureka Dunes, Death Valley National Park

Looking at the Inyo Mountains from the Eureka Dunes, Death Valley National Park

Cold water immersion illustrates the concept of sacrifice: we trade a few minutes of suffering in 4 degree water for feeling vibrant and energized throughout the day. Another example is to resist the temptation to react to the reactiveness of our spouse: we trade a few moments of deliberate restraint to contribute to greater mutual respect.

Eureka Dunes, Death Valley National Park, California