We all have a path to walk. Few travel in a straight line, while some have so many twists, turns, switchbacks, and forks that it’s a maze.

We can lose our way easily, no matter how few branches we choose to take. Or ignore.

Sometimes, there’s a rock in front of us. One that seems to block us completely. It’ll seem like a dead end; no way around it. No way to climb it, or break it apart so that we can continue. What we want most is on the other side, but we can’t get there.

So we slump to the ground, cry a little, feel defeated. Wonder why we chose this particular branch at all if all we’re met with is this obstacle.

Then we raise our head and look around. We’re surrounded by trees, ferns, life. The wind speaks to us, reminding us that we’re never truly alone in our struggle. The trees are the friends we’ve chosen as family, and that chose us in return. The ferns are people who we inspire, even if we don’t believe we did anything worth that word.

Hope begins to rise from the earth beneath our tired bodies, reminding us that obstacles are there to test our resolve. Nothing more.

So we stand up, brush ourselves off, and look around. Not at the giant boulder that’s unyielding. We look to that forest, those ferns. We hear their voices on the wind, reminding us that we can.

There’s always a way around that which blocks us. It’s not easy. We have to find a trail of our own making, tread lightly so we don’t crush those who support us as we walk. It’s hard, it’s slow going, but we will find a way around the rock. We will find our way back to the path that is ours.

BB/Chan Eil Eagal Orm