I had a three-mile slog ahead of me.  My companion was a backpack the weight of a small child.

As slogs go however, it wasn’t a bad one at all.  Temp was nice, windy enough to keep any sunlight heat off me, and indeed it was sunny.  So not bad really.

It had rained somewhat heavily the night before so the air was fresh.

I’ve done this walk before, and know how to walk long distances, so I set my mental sight to the destination and started moving along.  That’s a strategy that’s worked for decades for me, and actually something I picked up during cross-country running as a youngun.  Breathe one step at a time, think about the end goal.  Everything in between melts away.

Well, there was one thing I hadn’t considered.  Given that the previous night had presented a heavy rainfall, the path ahead of me had been covered with wet Texas mud.  For those who aren’t familiar with the stuff, it’s a mix of dead vegetation, animal droppings, and clay.  Get that wet and you’ve a heavy, slimy substance that presents many moments of excitement for the unwary traveler.

And so, at this moment, this path had found an unwary traveler.

So after two messy slips – one leading to a fall – I realised my strategy for long-distance walking wasn’t going to work.  I needed to adjust my focus.  So I did.

No more long-term thinking; it was all about getting through another muddy step, planning strategy for a few feet ahead and not miles ahead.

It was then the thought hit me…

It’s like that with life goals, life plans.

We sometimes have a dream which starts off as some fuzzy idea or inspiration, which becomes a goal when shared with others, and which then becomes a plan when put on a calendar.  We put that plan into action, one step at a time, but focus on the end game, our goal, our dream.

But sometimes when storms hit, our paths become messy and our steps may falter.  We may fall and receive damage.  Doesn’t mean the dream is dead.  It just means we need to shift focus to get through the slippery path until we get to a clearer area.  Then we pick up our heads and get to stepping on towards that goal.

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I made it home just fine.

Looks like rain again.

That’s ok.

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