Six months in and the journey continues. Thank you!

"Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better."

~Albert Einstein~

Six months in and the journey continues

People talk about the road to recovery, the path to success, Springsteen’s Streets of Philadelphia and Field of Dreams. This brings my thoughts around to trails. After running a 10K on a beautiful morning on some tough and hilly trails I took my time leaving the park. I was looking at all the places where the trails appeared and disappeared in the woods. As I spotted all the different trails I realized that all week I felt like things were falling apart and right at this moment, none of that mattered. As Henry David Thoreau, one of my favorite authors said “Nature will bear the closest inspection. She invites us to lay our eye level with her smallest leaf, and take an insect view of its plain.” I honestly feel that any affliction, addiction, or depression, as well as disappointment, ailment or predicament could be dealt with on a trail in the woods.

There is something about pushing yourself just hard enough and far enough so that you almost always come back a different person than when you started. Far enough that you are exhausted but your feet are the only way back so you push through. At some point you think you hear in the distance, voices cheering and instinctively your pace quickens. As you exit the woods and cross the finish line it becomes apparent that you have lost something on the trail. There is no need or desire to go back and find it since it is what you came here to lose. Without even noticing, through sweat and exertion the problems and stress of the week have fallen away. This feeling must be treasured since there is no telling how long it will last; since you are focused on the present moment what comes later is of no consequence at least for now.

It has been six months since I began this blog and I want to thank everyone who has taken the time to read it and look inside my world. I enjoy writing and this has been a way to get thoughts out of my head with the hopes that someone might get something out of it. Whether people enjoy reading it or can relate to something in it, I have been surprised and humbled to see all the different countries from which people have viewed this and it is now over 1900 page views. Like I said in the very beginning, I really did not know what direction this would take but it was going to be honest and about my journey.

Thank you again for allowing me to grow as a person and continue with my ongoing transformation.