My daughter and I woke early and were making our way up a steep climb to get to the top of this 12K crest overlooking the valley. My son and my nephew were already out of sight. She looked at me and said, so Dad, is this what you do when you go backpacking? Just wake up and climb big hills? She was clearly not a fan, I pointed out the spectacular views and she said, well that is nice but not worth this struggle!
We got to the top, took some great pictures and then started backdown. Now she was having fun, running, jumping, climbing rocks. She now loves backpacking again.
Half way down the mountain she discovered a few quick paths that skirted a sharp switch back. This allowed her to leap frog her progress by shaving off a few extra steps. Upon her third such attempt, she looked at me and said, Dad…I love shortcuts.
That got me to thinking. I stick to the rules sometimes and other times I am pushing limits. However, how often am I skipping care free down the easy parts looking for more shortcuts? Not enough. Not enough at all.
Sometimes life hands you an easy path, a downhill slope. Why do we struggle just to accept that and enjoy the shortcuts? Why do we let our impatience ruin that? Yeah, life is going to be hard, but sometimes it will be easy. Enjoy the time you have in the downhills. Why do we always have to be so hasty?
Guy Reams (1248)
