So I am back to work and I am really feeling the slow down of sitting at a desk and not being connected with nature. Sure, I am getting out on the weekends (and the disarray in my house testifies to that) but this is when I really get to missing those long walks in the woods.
This last week marked another turn around the sun and another opportunity to reflect on my blessings and that ever winding path of life that I am on.
I have posted several times about how life is good and how happy I am and I wonder if I am being true to what is REALLY going on. Is my blog accurately portraying my life?
Do I give the illusion that life is good and PERFECT?
I hope not.
My life is still full of tears, uncertainty, mistakes, pain, and all the other parts of being human that no one can truly escape. My relationships do not always run smooth. I don’t share much about those lovely benefits to growing older like perimenopause and stiffness that wakes me up at night and makes it hard to get out of bed at times. How despite eating well most of the time, I am still a stress eater and you will sometimes find me eating a whole bag of gluten-free cookies instead of doing the “right” thing like meditation.
I find myself feeling down when I am not living up to my own expectations of how my life should be going. I wonder if I am really making the right decisions. My faith does not mean I am immune to doubt and worry. Sometimes, I am scared of the unknown.
I have ups and I have downs. You can’t have one with the other.
Such as it is in hiking, you don’t find yourself standing at the top of a mountain without having started out in the valley.
And as much as we wish we could stay on top forever, you have to return to that valley so you can go and find yourself on top of other mountains.
I have to appreciate the lows for what they have to offer, so I can appreciate the highs all that much more.
As I look toward the next year and all that it might bring, I will try and do a better job of talking and sharing about the valleys, too. But I know that I will always strive to keep those mountain peaks in focus because they make the journey all worth it.
You can find the trip report for this hike HERE.
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