Today we hiked again on the very first trail (path?) we hiked back in February. It’s a paved, fairly flat 3 mile loop in a park. In February it was covered in ice. Today, it was like hiking in a different park, and that was a real eye-opener. I went in thinking I had hiked this path before, but it was a totally different hike experience than last time.
I think that’s one of my favorite things about nature – the change. The environment, even just that piece of it in this park, is so complex that there’s always something new to discover. The reminder for me is to keep my eyes open and make those new discoveries.
Change is such a natural part of life, and yet it’s so difficult for many people to deal with. Accepting change certainly didn’t come naturally to me. But I think I must have realized in my late teens that resisting change on all fronts is one huge exercise in futility, and I worked hard to find ways to deal with change. I now feel confident saying that I manage change pretty well.
Still, we all need a reminder sometimes of the things that aren’t so natural to us, and today’s hike did that for me.
