The Path

Have you ever wondered if you are on the right path in life? I’m sure it’s a question most of us have asked at one time or another.

Last week I took a quick five mile hike in the afternoon. I hiked up and down a hilly trail through a beautiful moss-filled forest. At one point right after two paths crossed I stopped and looked down the winding trail toward a bridge and thought to myself “I wonder what’s down that path?” and “Should I go that direction or the other?”

I decided to wander down the path and over the bridge, then under a canopy of tree branches–all the while wondering what lied ahead. A few minutes later I encountered two things.

The first was that my path became blocked by more water than I wanted to cross through. A smaller stream had overran and covered the path and the way I had decide to go was blocked.

I was a bit disappointed.

And so I backtracked a little and saw a small trail that zigzagged through a copse of trees toward a campground. The place was either closed or very empty that day.

Second, to my surprise, only a short walk later as I came to a small meadow five deer picked up their heads and looked at me. I was so close–maybe 10 feet or so away from the nearest one. They stood still and watched me as I slowly moved between them. If I had food with me, I probably could have fed them from my hands.

The air was still; quiet and peaceful with only the sound of a nearby stream gurgling behind me. Seeing the deer and being so close to them was a very nice and unexpected treat.

After passing by them I crossed the campground–bypassing the path that was blocked, and continued on the rest of my hike.

The disappointment of my blocked path actually led to something better. Something that I wouldn’t have found if I had not been open to finding a new way.

As we go through life and look ahead at our path, we may not always know what lies ahead. But don’t take obstructions in the path as a time of failure. Look at it instead as a moment of opportunity.

You never know what might be only a few feet away. An unexpected surprise may be in your future.

Keep moving and keep trying and new opportunities will arise on your path through life.