I recently came back from visiting some of the National Parks in Utah. If you like nature, National Parks are a must on your list.
One of the most meaningful experiences I had on this trip was the River Hike in Zion National Park. River hiking is when you spend most of your time in the river, hiking. Usually the water is about knee high, but at times you can go in as deep as your waist. I had to walk in cold water, upstream, against the current, and the water was not clear so I needed a walking stick to navigate my way. Sounds challenging, right?
Yes, parts of it were challenging. Yet it was an amazing experience as I realized how similar it was to life. That recognition inspired me to really make a decision to go as far as I could during the hike.
As I mindfully took steps forward, equipped with the right gear, I noticed those that were rushing in the river fall down. Others did not get in at all thinking it was too hard to do. Soon the only thing I was noticing was myself, where I was going and the beauty around me.
After doing this for about two hours I arrived to The Narrows. The scenery was magical and something you cannot experience from land. I was grateful to have taken steps to be in and to arrive to a place not everybody does. I felt confident and strong ready to take on another challenge.
I was thinking of Theodore Roosevelt’s quote:
“It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.”
These are dramatic words, and match the way language was often used 100 years ago, but I find they are right on target.
So, now that Fall is here and you are perhaps refocusing on your life and goals, I hope that you will continue connecting to your dreams and taking mindful steps at your own pace with the right tools, determined to achieve what matters to you.
