lessons learned: stay on the trail
This post is part of the discussion series titled The Path to Healthy Living Through the Great Outdoors. The point of these topics is not for just me to just share them and move on, but rather to foster some discussion on these ideas and how they apply in "your" life. We're not sitting around the same table, but we can still have a discussion. Just leave your own thoughts in the comments below, or send them to me privately if you prefer. You'll find a complete list of all the topics at the end of this post.
As you’re on the road, or maybe the trail, towards healthy living, there are times you really need to make sure you are staying on the straight and narrow. Times where you need to be careful about straying off the path.
When I’m actually hiking, there’s lots of trails like this. It could literally be that stepping off the side of the trail leads to a 40-50 foot drop to the bottom of a ravine, like here on Kendal Katwalk, part of the Pacific Crest Trail in the Snowqualmie Pass area.
Or maybe it’s because straying to much off the path is damaging to the surrounding wildlife, or any number of other reasons.
As you’re working towards your own health goals, straying from your plan, straying too far from your path may not leave you at the bottom of a literal ravine, but it can prevent you from reaching your goals. That can lead to discouragement, which may lead to loss of motivation and more.
When hiking, the path is often already laid out before us, but we get to choose which which trail we’re going to hike, what destination we want to reach. There are resources such as maps, guide books, ranger stations and more to help us pick those destinations. There are those with previous experience that can guide us, give us helpful insight on how we might reach that destination for ourselves. Then, it is up to us to put one foot in front of the other, taking us down that path towards our destination.
In healthy living, we get to set our goals, we get to plan our paths. But we have experts we can turn to for guidance. Resources we can tap into for help. But it is up to us to put those plans into motion, to see them through. And staying on that path is what helps us get there.
This following is the complete list of topics that make up The Path to Healthy Living Through the Great Outdoors discussion topics. While these topics are listed as a sort of progression, they can be viewed/discussed in any order. Titles will get an active link as they are posted.
- an idea born in nature (introduction)
- have a plan
- be prepared
- choose your own path
- it's not a straight line
- stay on the trail
- it's ok to stray at times
- keep trying
- take another look around
- push your limits
- never forget
- put it all behind you
- it's not the destination
- share your journey
- just get out there
