My family recently went hiking around a lake in the Pacific Northwest. The trail went through a forest, and we could see Mt. Hood in the distance. It was gorgeous, but my problem with hiking as opposed to walking on a leveled path or sidewalk is that I miss a lot of the scenery. I spend my whole hike watching my feet so I don’t trip. There are tree roots and rocks in the way, and even though I’m careful, I still hit a toe on some and almost fall down. I stop once in a while just to look up to see what I am missing. (Okay, so I also sometimes have to catch my breath, but we won’t mention that.)
I am dazzled by the sky and the treetops. There is something beautiful about sunlight filtering through branches with the blue in between. I remind myself that there would be no treetops without the roots. There would be no path without rocks broken down to sand.
I try to appreciate the necessity of the things that trip me up. As in life, each hiking step I take is a choice, and some choices have better consequences than others. So, I watch where I go but also stop to take in my surroundings. Roots to sky, stone to sand, steps to life.