This past week the universe has led me into yet another focus on perspective. This is not my first perspective rodeo, but it’s been a good long ride!
Last Sunday when I was driving to meet a friend to go hiking I noticed that I had sandals on and not my hiking shoes. Immediately thinking of it from a different perspective I came to the conclusion that I needed to take it easy and have a nice slow mindful walk that day. My day turned out perfectly! As an additional perk, I easily slipped off those sandals and walked barefoot back and forth along a log lying across a river just off the path! What fun!
Monday I was picking raspberries out of my garden. As I gently nudged the berries from their grip on the stems, sharing their beautiful fruit with me, a thought popped in my mind. I hunted for the juicy redness amongst the leaves and was turning my head and body to and fro. Just as I was looking at the bushes, I thought, if I don’t stop or pause and take the opportunity to look at things from different angles, I may miss a gift the universe has for me! I kept this message swirling in my mind as I continued to fill my bucket.
My week continued in this way and by Friday, another big message hit me. I had found the cutest little camper for sale about an hour from my home. I made a plan to drive there to check it out hoping that it might be just what my daughter and I have been looking for. I discovered the price tag was too steep for what it provided for us. (If I had channeled Bam Bam from the Flintstones I could’ve easily hit my club two times on the ground – Bam! Bam! and picked it up with my finger!)
Instead of being disappointed that the camper wasn’t meant for us I quickly decided to open my AllTrails app and see what was around. Lo and behold quite a number of trails that looked interesting were nearby and off I went (hiking shoes now in my mini cooper)!
As I hiked alone I thought back to the time in my life when I hiked a lot. I lived in Hawaii and my husband at the time was deployed with the Marine Corps for 22 out of the 24 months we lived there. I remember calling and calling people to find someone to hike with and when I couldn’t find anyone I was sorely disappointed and stayed home. At that time hiking alone just emphasized that I was alone and feeling alone made me very sad. Those two years were a challenge!
Luckily, much time has passed and my perspective has changed! Hiking on my own that day seemed like a glorious idea and it was! I didn’t have the fear of getting lost or feeling scared if I heard a noise as I had in my early 20s. At one point I came to an opening in the woods and had an uneasy feeling…30 years ago this feeling would have made me scared thinking that somebody was in the woods nearby or an animal was close and would make me feel very unsafe. I did have that thought for a second, but was aware that I was looking back at myself as a 24-year-old. I told my young self, “That’s not you any longer, Jodi. You are not alone; you are not in a state of fear any longer; you feel uneasy because you have stepped off the path. You need to look around and see where the path is and find your way back on it.”
With my heart filled with happiness and a bit of excitement in my belly I searched and quickly found a felled tree with trail markings painted upon it. Climbing over its trunk I thanked it and told it that it was still serving and sharing its strength with the rest of us on this trail even in its death. Smiling even more widely, I thought to myself, “I had stepped off the trail briefly and jumped right back on. My uneasiness was a hint to stop and look around.”
I’m so grateful that this trail reminded me of perspective. I can see the paths I take in life and I am able to look at things from different perspectives and to get back on them if I believe I’m heading in the wrong direction! I also now know that I am never alone! I am connected to everything and everyone and I can trust myself to make the right decisions and ask for guidance when I need some assistance. I stopped, I looked, the trees answered.