I've never been one to follow traditional paths. What's the point of facing a
challenge if you already have the knowledge to overcome it? After being in a
mental fog for a couple of days, probably from a lack of sleep, I decided take care
of the problem the only rational way I knew how. I kicked my shoes off, stuffed my
socks down into my shoes, tied my shirt around my waist, and headed off into the woods. No path to follow, no rules to abide by, no phone, and most importantly no problems. Just myself and the next step forward. I can't deny the fact that the first few steps of this type of adventure are uncomfortable, but once you're in it I can describe it in no way other than pure bliss. After working my way about a quarter of the way up this 65 degree football field of mud and leaves, my hands and feet were both covered in sludgy clay that caused me to slide halfway back down every step I took. I stopped for a moment to catch my breath, enjoy the rain, and try to get some of the god forsaken mud off myself. I was able to scrape off the bulk of the globs that had built up, but I couldn't get the layer off that made me feel like I was crawling on ice. I soon gave up on that idea and when I looked up, a vibrant green caught my eye, which isn't surprising being contrasted with the lifeless brown of dead trees and the gray overcast. Moss was just the thing I needed. That tiny patch of absorbent mush not only completely cleaned every ounce of mud off of my hands and feet, but after accidentally stepping on twigs and small rocks the cool softness was extremely refreshing. Now don't think I'm crazy just yet, there's plenty more weird things I believe in than what I'm about to say, but I thanked that moss. No matter who you give praise to Jesus, Allah, Mother, yourself, or whatever it may be my point is this; If you appreciate and enjoy even the smallest of gestures, then there is no possible way that you can't enjoy life on a daily basis.
As I continued up the hill at damn near a turtle pace, I was finally closing in on the peak. Now my plan was to work my way to the top of the hill where I thought I remembered there being a trail I would intersect that either went right or left. I had taken the trail to the left before and it led a few miles away and spit me out on some random road. I didn't want to do that again. It turns out the trail I thought went right was actually a dead end of a fork from the main trail with a gorgeous view. Which I thoroughly enjoyed. So I had two options at this point. Either hike another hour or two and then walk my happy ass barefoot down some street that I didn't know, and try to find my way home, OR make my way back down this steep ass mini mountain. I chose the latter. I won't bore you with my trip back down because it was more or less the same as the way up. I got covered in mud, stepped on a lot more stones, and hugged some trees. However, after realizing what my options were it only took a minute for me to decide which route to take. I could've stood up there and bitched to myself much longer, believe me I wanted to, about how there wasn't a nice soft muddy trail guiding me back down with ease. My true situation was that there was no trail. I had to accept this new reality, change my way of thinking and move on.
All of these thing I shared with you today are just a few of the infinite reasons I encourage everyone to kick off their shoes and make their own path through the woods occasionally. You won't have time to focus on anything but where the next safest spot to place your delicate bare foot will be, so any stressful situation you find yourself drifting off to in thought seems to just fade away. You learn to genuinely appreciate the little things, such as a small moss covered rock that allows for a few moments of relief from constantly stepping on leaf hidden, jagged pebbles or fallen dead branches. Lastly you learn to be adaptable. There is never a paved way for you to follow, so it's up to no one but you to find your own path of least resistance. In my eyes all of these "lessons" you can find in nature are also applicable to life. No matter what situation you find yourself in, you always have two options: Piss and moan and hope the situation gets better, or accept the new reality as it is, and figure out a way to overcome it.
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