Remember how I said that my house had enough intensity with me in it, although I didn't obsessively lick things?
Yes?
What I didn't mention is what I am actually obsessed with.
I'm currently obsessed with reading trail books, as I mentioned in the post called Trail Magic. Trail books are memoirs of people who have completed thru hikes, which are long distance hikes on trails that are around 2,000 miles long.
My total is nearing 20.
Most of which I read this summer.
Kindle Unlimited can be a beautiful thing. Or a dangerous thing. Either way, really.
I'm not 100% sure what the draw is but I'm guessing it is because I find little gems like this:
"The simple act of moving forward,
not matter what the pace,
was enough to set me smiling."
If Trees Could Talk by Woody Woodill
He, of course, was referring to moving forward on a trail. More specifically, he was referring to moving forward after having encountered a very trying day.
Trying days on the trail involve things such as not finding water, getting caught in a hail storm, nearly falling down a cliff or running out of food.
None of those are likely happenings in my daily life.
Well, except for the cliff.
I actually have an 80 foot cliff in my backyard, believe it or not. We live in a hilly area and they put houses in the strangest places.
We have a fence, though, so I'd have to be doing something really stupid to fall off the cliff.
Trying days off the trail are more likely to include a dog vomiting on the newly shampooed carpet, not having enough time to finish all my paperwork and phone calls or not enough time to get all the school shopping done.
Or this week, I've been juggling a client in crisis, a friend's crisis, moving all my old files into storage, re-arranging my office to make room for another therapist, getting the back to school shopping done, and buying new furniture for my office all while trying to minimize time on my feet to limit pain caused by Lyme disease.
And, let me just say, trying to find pants that fit my 9 year old daughter seems like it should be an easy task but it is not!
By the way, I get that these are good problems to have. Not so much the people in crisis problem but the other things. I'm lucky that these are the kinds of things that are trying.
He wasn't speaking to any of those every day hassles.
Nonetheless, that phrase really buoyed me this week.
At any given moment, all I had to was go forward.
Not sure what to do?
Just pick something and do it.
So, I went to buy pants.
Or I composed a text to give comfort for a crisis.
Or I sorted through things and bagged up what I no longer needed.
When things really got tough, I pulled out some paint brushes, turned on loud music and got out of my head for a little bit.
Moving forward.
All you gotta do is pick something and do it.
The details sort out as you go along, be it getting out of a hail storm or dealing with a crisis.
Life gives us many trying days.
We only need to keep putting one foot in front of the other and follow the trail.
Even when the destination is unknown.
Life gives us many trying days.
We only need to keep putting one foot in front of the other and follow the trail.
Even when the destination is unknown.