So when I want to get out and get some fresh air, oh, wait, I'm surrounded by fresh air here.....So when I want to get out and get some exercise, I love to go to Cave Creek Regional Park. There is a combination of sections of 4 connecting trails that create a really cool 3 mile loop. Wait, did you say 3 MILES?? Yes, yes I did. Did I start with that? Hell no, worked up to it, and the terrain is still a nice challenge. I can't tell you the great sense of accomplishment the first time I did it and didn't die. (There is another longer, harder loop that I'm working up to, but may not get that one done before summer hits and it's 400 degrees here...)
Now, when you first saw the picture above, what did you think? Where did your eyes go first? The beautiful day? The way the trees work together to make an arch to walk through? Nope, I'm betting your eyes went straight to the pile of horseshit. And you may or may not have seen that there are some additional piles further along the path.
I took this photo a couple weeks ago because it's perfect.
We plan our path, we create our path, we envision our path - and then as we are walking it, AAAHHHH!!!! There's a big pile of crap!!! And here's what we do:
We look at it
We analyze it
We look at it more closely
We wonder how it got there
We get even closer and focus on it more
We stand in the middle of it
We kick it around and then wonder why it's on our shoes
We tell everyone about it
We ask everyone what they think about it
We cry about it
Then we wonder why we can't get out of it
Or - we see it, panic, and in trying to avoid it, we end up in the rocks and cactus and rattlesnakes.
OR......
Did you notice how much of the path is NOT covered in crap? We could just acknowledge that crap happens and then WALK AROUND IT. Get the lesson and move on. Focus on everything else in the photo that is NOT crap. Sheesh. Not sure why this is so hard for us to do, but I am certainly guilty of all of the above crappy focus.
I have managed to walk the trails at the park many times and not step in the horseshit even once. I have tripped over rocks because I was looking around and enjoying the view, but I have always paid attention to the piles of crap and then moved around them. Time to do that in daily life.....
Have a great day my friends, and focus on the great, beautiful parts of your path....
