Find A Way
Nancy and I headed out this morning for a distance hike in preparation for our Camino Pilgrimage this September. We began our training months ago and slowly at first, moving through setbacks, and adding miles along the way. Nancy and I had scheduled a 10-mile walk last week for today, not knowing the weather, awaking to rain showers and an unsettled forecast.
“Still up for walk in rain!” and “Yes!” we each texted one another, as we were both eager to go and walking in the rain would be part of our Camino training. You walk no matter the weather, so this, too, would be practice.
For our trek today, we went to the McLean Game Refuge, a beautiful property in Simsbury, CT with a myriad of trails through forest, and peppered with ponds and brooks. About midway through our hike and at a crossroad of the trails there was a sign that said, “No bridge over brook.” On several of our recent walks, despite the wet weather pattern, we’ve crossed dry waterbeds. So, we didn’t see this as a deterent. "Perhaps the brook will be dry,” one of us said, “Or the water low enough to cross,” said the other, and we continued on.
As we approached the brook, we saw that it was running with water, not impassable by any means, but at a minimum our feet would be submerged. Nancy and I walked up and down the brook to find the best crossing point and came across a felled tree. Here was our bridge. I got up on the tree in a crouch, plunging my walking sticks to either side in the brook and slowly made my way across the slippery, curved surface, one step at a time.
I made it to the other side and Nancy started, slowly. She had a debilitating concussion last year, so it took great courage for her to push through her fear of falling – a fear she didn’t have prior to her concussion – and go anyway. She did more of a shimmy in the beginning and then found the trees that had fallen below our bridge tree were solid and made for good stepping-stones. She, too, took her time and got to the other side.
What a triumph! We were determined to get across and not turn around. In our minds, this roadblock would not deter us. Whatever fear we might have wouldn’t hold us back. We would forge ahead. We would find a way. And we did, each in our own way. You can, too. Whatever you might be faced with in your life. Whatever unknown is sitting smack in the middle of your path, you can find a way forward.
Yes, you can.
Sono luce, (I am light – and so are you!)
xo,
Angela
Copyright 2018 Angela Martin
Guest post by Angela Martin, a seeker of truth, beauty and goodness, and writer and award-winning author who writes on her contemplative journey in the second half of life. Angela is co-leading the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage with Nancy Murray, September 14-23, 2018.
