#ThoughtHealing Quote
for the Week: “At my age of 63, there are a lot of things that are no
longer likely or possible. I’ll probably never go up Mt. Kilimanjaro or run
another marathon. I won’t spend a winter crewing on boats in the Caribbean. Won’t
learn to play the piano. Might learn another language, although that’s a long
shot. But I’ll tell you one thing that is possible. You can walk across
Scotland and put your feet in the sea.” David Brown, excerpted from “Sea to
sea: a hillwalking ‘challenge’ across Scotland,” Washington Post Sunday,
October 11, 2015
My first experience with recognizing that something was no
longer likely or possible “at my age” was during a hike on the Aiea Loop Trail
in the Keaiwa Heiau State Park on the island of Oahu.
This was my first time trying this hike, and since I was
alone, I did my homework first about safety for solitary hikers. I was
encouraged, plus the idea of this being a loop meant that I would probably not
get lost since, sooner or later, I’d end up back where I started from.
Imagine my surprise when I discovered that it was not,
strictly speaking, a “loop.” You begin in one area and end in another. Of
course, I didn’t realize this until I was finished—and, by that time, the hike had
nearly finished me off.
The first portion was nice
(read, “How easy-peasy, so glad I decided to do this”), but the middle had lots
of mud and/or water puddles that had to be negotiated (read, “jumped over or
waded through”), and the last portion was more enclosed (read, “more isolated
and scary than I expected”) by a narrower trail and lower trees. Plus, there
were little to no benches or just a place to pull over to take a break; the
trail was not well-marked other than the well-worn main trail; and there were a
lot of side trails that you could easily (the only easy thing about this) wander
off on, never to be heard from again. Oh, and by the way, it’s not a bad idea
to be aware of the sheer drops here and there.
Did I mention that I believed
I had done my homework beforehand?
About 90 minutes into the
hike, I came across a downed tree that was completely blocking the trail. I had
no choice but to climb over it. Which is what brings me to the moment when I
realized that something that used to be easy for me had, unexpectedly, become
near to impossible: I barely had the strength to hoist myself up and over, and,
once over, I became seriously concerned that I wouldn’t have the strength to
finish the hike.
Of course, since I’m writing
this now, you know that this story had a happy ending. I did manage to finish,
especially lifted in spirit when a young mother and her very young son lapped
me sooner after the tree (I might not have had much strength left, but for
heavens sake, I did have my pride!).
At the time, I remember being
very discouraged by the knowledge that hiking—at least, this kind of hiking—might
no longer be possible for me. And, for a time, I was discouraged about my life
in general. After all, baring a miracle, I realized that, in all likelihood, I
now had less time in front of me than behind me.
But then I decided I had a
choice. I could either close the book on my bucket list OR I could simply
change the entries. And I have a lot (although winter crewing on boats
in the Caribbean has never been, nor will it ever be, on my bucket list).
So, what’s on your bucket list? Are you constrained by the things that are no longer possible? Or are you
energized and motivated by all this IS still possible for you?
Think about it!
Want to know more
about transforming limited thoughts and beliefs into limitless possibilities?
Check out my Examine–Envision–Emerge Personal Transformation Book Series. Each
book explores a particular aspect of thought healing. Find yours online at your
favorite retailer today!
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