So often we follow along what others do and say. Sometimes it is our own routine that we do the same thing over and over. That is what I recognized in me during my last hike. I take different trails once I am in the park, but I enter the park the same way, just like everyone else. On this day when I arrived at Wildwood there were too many people on the entrance trail and really all over the trails. One of the reasons I go hiking is for the peace and quiet and to connect with nature, that was not going to be the case today with so many hikers.
I decided to take another entrance and I am so glad I did. Right now, most of Wildwood is very dry and then drier. Trails are getting wider as brush becomes dry and crumble and more of the soil appears making trails wider. This trail was completely different, there is creek with water that is flowing in the middle of summer, it’s destination Paradise Falls. I found the area cool, shady, green, lusher and a different kind of path. It was perfect. I did not see many hikers, just a few, making it a wonderful hiking day.
So often we follow along, we get caught up in the drama of life and we find it hard to separate ourselves. So much of this is happening right now where we watch the news or listen to the radio and we get caught in the web of fear. It is important to remember we always have a choice, a choice to choose how we respond and react to things in our lives and the outside world.
"Pain happens, suffering is optional" Buddhist phrase
“Life consists in what a man is thinking of all day.” Ralph Waldo Emerson
