The trail was in pretty good shape considering the huge windstorm that struck our valley the week before Christmas . There were a few downed trees but mostly it was okay.
I often struggle with new years day and so as I hiked along I was thinking about it all. People always say we should make resolutions. This year we will lose weight, exercise more, be kinder, get a new job, do some amazing adventure. Now I am ok with making a bucket list of adventures and making some plans for the year of what things I would like to do but I am not so sure about the others.
So many people struggle for years with who they are, what they look like and yet we are all created beings, each unique. I am who I am and you are who you are. There are people who cannot accept themselves the way they are and continually feel bad about themselves. It's so sad that they cannot love themselves for the person they have become and here we are on January 1st telling them to be better, be more compassionate, to be more physically fit. We are told in order to grow and become a better person we need to change and strive for new goals.
I just don't know what a person is to do. Of course we always want to live life as compassionate, kind people. We all want to be that "good" person. Yet how can we love ourselves for the person we are if we are always feeling we need to be better than we are now. Life is so short and as my friend always reminds me "life can turn on a dime" so shouldn't we just enjoy it and make the most out of every moment rather than waste time worrying about always being better?
It was a great day and a great hike. Did I make any new year's resolutions? No this year I haven't. I am who I am. It has taken me a long time and a lot of work to accept that I am not always the best I can be, that I continually fail at always being compassionate and kind but I know I am a good person. I will do my best at being a compassionate person and being kind to others but I am not going to set goals about it all.
Did I make any plans for some new adventures? Well of course I did because what would life be if I couldn't get out on the trails and connect with creation and all of its brokenness and loveliness.
The life of the forest is full of wonderful living creations - some of them massive,
some of them tiny, some of them broken by life's storms but they all live together, each of them bringing their own gifts to the world just like us.
None of us are perfect and I feel it is more important to accept who we are, to love ourselves as we were created, than to spend another year trying to constantly be something better than we are. It could leave us feeling as empty as this bench. Happy New Year! May you have many adventures.
