I recently spent a weekend hiking in the mountains of North Carolina with my friend, Jenny. If you haven’t explored the Blue Ridge Parkway around Blowing Rock, add it to your list!
Day 1 we were ready: we got up early, chose ‘the perfect trail’, filled our water bottles, stirred our trail mix, and packed our backpacks. We set off to find the trailhead, but when we arrived at ‘the right place’, we couldn’t find our trail. Confused, we pulled out a phone, opened Google Maps, and punched in the trailhead info. The message that came up was something like ‘Google Maps can’t navigate you to where you already are’.
Hmmm. According to Google Maps we were exactly where we needed to be. But it didn’t look like it; the only trail we could find had a completely different name. Armed with our gear and a little bit of faith, we set off on the trail that was right in front of us. It meandered through the woods, took us to scenic overlooks and across rolling streams. We’re still not sure whether it was the trail we were looking for, but it definitely took us on the adventure we wanted!
If you’re like me, you know how it feels when things aren’t quite what you expected. Perhaps you’ve spent time wishing things were different or believing that life will be just right when you have the nicer house, the better job, the perfect partner, whatever. Today, instead of wishing things were different, be present to the joys that are happening right in front of you. Observe what is already rich and meaningful in your life. You may find that you don’t need to navigate to somewhere else; you are exactly where you need to be.