Bumps In The Road...

On the road of life, you can't get off the exit ramps without some bumps and roadblocks-and a few detours.- Oprah

Donny and I are just three weeks away from our Grand Canyon trip. On tap, a 16.6 mile hike into the canyon. We'll start our descent from the South Kaibab trail head. Elevation 7,260 feet. Once we get to the canyon floor (elevation 2,480 feet) we'll follow the Colorado River downstream to the Bright Angel Trail and head back up to the top of the south rim (elevation 6,860 feet).

We've been training for this trek since December. Starting out with a 4 mile walk and working our way up to 6. Then 8. Then 10. And last weekend a 12 mile hike. Which brings me to today's blog. 

During our training I discovered the shoes and socks you wear are the difference between your feet and disaster. And by the way. It's never a good idea to give yourself a pedicure the night before a 10 mile hike. Ouch. Your feet need a little callus build up to protect you from blisters. In all honesty, having a little callus gets you through a lot of things by protecting your ego from getting bruised too easily. Once our egos get involved? Who knows how it will turn out? And if you've got some big goals in life, you'll need to keep your ego in check in order to maneuver the bumps in the road along the way. Which leads me back to our most recent hike.

We set out at 9am on a bright, sunny, spring New England morning. Back packs full of water, snacks, first aid kit, Chapstick, cell phones and a water bowl for the two rambuntious dogs who happen to be three year old siblings name Cooper and Grace who were with us. 

We traveled to a scenic lake close to our home where the views are brilliant and it's an endless sea of dogs and their owners. We parked and Donny clipped the leash onto Grace's collar and started to usher her out of the truck. Cooper? Not getting the leash memo slinked out behind her. In a brief moment of panic I drop my back pack and retrieve the Retriever and we start out on the trail. Donny with Grace and me with Cooper.

Five minutes into our journey, Cooper who's walking on my right gets excited about something on the left. As I shuffle to correct his course my lace loop from my left boot hooks to a latch on my right boot. Now imagine any show or movie where some pranckster has tied the laces of his or her classmate's shoes together. This is how I went down. With a monstrous thud on a crowded trail of jolly dog walkers.

Now I'm pretty clumsy and over the years I've learned not to get embarrassed by my bumbles. Usually I can get up, shrug it off and stay on track. It went something like this.

Me, "I'm fine," I say standing up with my knee all bloody, "I'm fine. Let's go"

"It's a good thing I got that first aid kit," he says.

"I know," I say. Not impressed and my ego tells me to keep walking with my bloody knee just to spite him.

We start walking.

Donny, laughing. Well, it was more like a chuckle really, "It's a good thing we weren't in the canyon."

Normally, I may have laughed and said, "I know right?"

As a matter of fact, I think I did, however in my head? Bombs were exploding. The next round went like this.

"Wait. I can't find my phone."

Yes, the classic "I lost my cell phone when I fell like a ginormous pile of lumber in the woods" routine. Followed by.

"Call it."

An astute and logical revelation by the love of my life, but I and my over stimulated ego did not appreciate the help. So I begrudgingly call the phone with no result. Maybe I left it in the truck?

"Do you want me to go back and get it," he says.

"I can go back and get it," I say like a five year old.

In the end, we both walk to the truck to find the phone on the ground where it had fallen when I dropped my backpack the first time.

We hit the trail again with very little chatter. Donny tries to make pleasant conversation, but I have been hijacked by my ego so this tactic is not working for him. We pass other happy couples enjoying their walks, but me and my ego are a no go. We have decided that Donny must pay for doing absolutely nothing wrong.

We pass two women riding horses. I love horses and I rarely get to see them up close and personal, but I have decided to stay in my misery and only manage a polite smile. By mile six we stop for a snack and as I get up, I realize I've tweaked my back. Probably from the fall which apparently my ego has decided to blame on my unsuspecting husband. Crazy yes, but it's my ego so....

We've got six miles back to the truck, so I have no choice. I can't pack it in now. 

When you are walking dogs, it's important to stay calm assertive in order to keep them in line. I am a calm maniac at this point so both dogs want nothing to do with me and I gladly hand them over to Donny.

Needless to say, it was not a fun trip back to the truck. For me, or my poor husband. Towards the end of our 12 mile hike, we came across a turtle. I could only see the shell at first. Then a little turtle head emerged. Then a tail. And then the rest. I imagined what life must be like for this cute little turtle with humans, dogs, horses and the like invading it's space on the reg. But that little turtle had a life to live and while something or someone had forced it into its shell, it was bound and determined to live. So, it popped out of its shell, stared me down and started walking. I was just a bump in the road that this little guy encountered and now he was moving on.

In my book Writing Your Own Life I talk about choosing our emotions and rebounding quickly. I obviously fell off the happiness wagon here. I am grateful that I continue to challenge myself and that life continues to teach me lessons. I could have given up after the fall. I could have given up at the 6 mile mark. I could have decided that the Grand Canyon hike was too big of a goal for me. We have the choice of quitting any time. But this experience of training, planning, the desire to challenge myself and the reward of the majestic view from the canyon floor is important to me. 16.6 miles is a big challenge. That's why it's my goal.

There will be bumps in your road. Some will be decisions that are harmful to you physically and emotionally and these bumps are there to change your course, if you are paying attention. These bumps are for you to get over and start a new, healthy road. Some bumps are challenging, but worth getting over and pushing forward towards your goals. Either way, the bumps in our road are there to make us stronger. Dare to challenge yourself every day and live the life YOU want and deserve.