Hiking Log – I Decided…
This is part 13 of excerpts from the trail log which was located on a New York portion of the Appalachian trail. For the post which explains this series, click here. Each new edition includes a quote from a hiker, along with this writer’s insight into what the person might have meant. Your interpretation may be different!
Following is my selection of this week’s thoughts of a hiker.
November 3, 2017
72° Amazing Day – And I Simply Decided to be Happy Again.
November is typically a cold month, the first where Winter weather starts to make its appearance. A normal November day might have high temperatures somewhere in the 50s. It usually snows at least once during the month. So the first thing that struck me by this writer was the reference to the temperature. It was an “amazing day” with a temperature in the 70s. I can imagine this hiker was grinning as he or she made their way along the trail.
And then the most important part of this short entry: “I simply decided to be happy again.” What made this person unhappy in the past? Is the path to happiness as easy as saying it is so? I have decided to be happy and therefore I am? Can it be that simple?
As I’ve shared previously, people who spend time in the outdoors seem to be healthier – physically, mentally and emotionally. Nature can bring out the best in us. A quick online search “health benefits of nature” will prove the fact that time in nature can heal whatever ails us. A follow-up search for attributes of hikers will prove the benefits of the outdoors even more. Apparently hikers can be more focused, creative, independent and fit than their non-hiking counterparts. And they tend to appreciate the simple things in life.
So back to our hiker of the moment. He or she must have been struggling with something. And on this day, during a walk in the woods, they opted to share their decision to be happy. Do I think this person could have made a decision to be happy and then it simply became so? I do! I believe we all have the ability to make the rest of our lives whatever we want them to be. We want to be miserable? We will. We want to be happy? We can.
So yes, I believe this hiker made a decision to take their life to a better place. I give this person huge kudos for making a choice to change the trajectory of their life. And I hope they continue to move right past happy to joyful, ecstatic and more.
If you have something on your mind, throw some stuff in a backpack, and go talk to nature! It can work wonders.
Disclosure: Unlike the rest of the posts, for this one I personally know the specific person who wrote the above words. I’ve been paying attention to how their life has been going, and I can attest that they are definitely happier now than a year ago when these words hit paper. And that makes my heart smile.
For more thehousekat.com Hiking-related posts, click here.