Lost in the Woods

 I had to stop fighting. I had to stop resisting. I had to surrender all my ideas of how my life was supposed to be so I could have the life I was meant to have. Every loss was a way of traveling lighter, eliminating what wouldn’t serve me on my journey. This hard-won understanding was both enlightening and painful. Alicia Rodriguez

No, literally, I was lost in the real woods this weekend. On a Sunday, I would wake up early and take a walk on some of the beautiful trails about 20 minutes drive from where I live. I look forward at the start of a new week, to taking those walks, the peacefulness of it all, the discovery, sometimes I would unexpectedly meet rivers, streams, waterfalls, monkeys, birds, sometimes people. Nature has always been a regenerator, a healing of sorts for me. Its simplicity reminds me that there is a level of magnificence and grace in life when we pay attention.

I have been going alone for a very long time, I would invite someone ever so often. On this Sunday I decided to invite on of my dear friends, who I believed would appreciate being in nature.

We set off and decided to follow the trail to the end. What we realized is that perhaps we made a turn off the trail as 3 hours and 20 minutes later we were still on a trail that usually takes 1 hour 15minutes maximum.  Did I panic? Yes. I confess that I did panic. After the panic ended, we saw another marked trail and decided to stick to it until the end.

This trail was challenging, we had to climb up a river, climb some serious hills, battle with some bugs, it was epic! Then we had an idea maybe the GPS on my phone could lead us out - lo and behold there was no signal in the deep woods. We would wait. When I did get to a point where there was a signal, my phone was ready to discharge- on its last legs the GPS said 2 more hours to our destination. Never! I refused to believe that. 

What a reflection and mirror, when things come up in my life that are challenging and not to my liking I dismiss it. The lesson is always - without acceptance of what is, what is the truth we give up our power to make an informed decision. 

Finally, we saw the end of the trail and a road. The relief was immense. When I got out onto the road almost 4 hours later, I realized we really were at least one hour and a half from where the car was parked. We had to dig deep. We decided to walk the 10k to the main road adn take a taxi to our car, it had to be done.

When the taxi stopped for us, and we asked him to take us to where our car was, he started asking questions about where we came from, when we told him we were in the woods, he could not believe it. He told us we were very brave, that it really is admirable that we did that, no water, no guide, he knows the terrain.

When we set off on a path with we will never know all the unexpected twists, turns and detours that will arise. What is important is having a goal, an intention and an unwavering faith that no matter what we will learn from it, we will gain from it, that the Universe is right there with us as we journey through.

I must say, I was sore as hell after that 5 hour trek, content yet sore! Happy to show myself again that life, just like this walk in the woods, will bring us adventures and its all about how we show up and respond to them.

Peace

Akosua's Books

Nyabo (Madam) Why Are You Here?

Now What? The Flipside

What Did I Learn Today? Lessons on the Journey to Unconditional Self Love