I’m standing on Big Frog Mountain just north of the Georgia-Tennessee border, marveling at the crystal bright snow and shuddering in the cold. “Let’s get out of this wind! I’m glad we didn’t camp up here last night.”
My hiking partner and I turn to go, heading southward on the Benton MacKaye Trail. My shoulders bent away from the wind. My heart swelled with joy. “I’m within reach of my goal to walk this 300-mile trail all the way through in all four seasons! That’s so wonderful!”
Three years earlier, I had stopped short of this goal on the Winter leg of this project. I had met my match at mile 124 in a 6″ snowstorm that kept me camped out for a day then walking out to the next road to get a ride from my new friend, Brenda. It was a sort of rescue because I had gotten cold. My gear was inadequate for staying put in snow. At the time, I had convinced myself that it really was o.k. that I had not walked all 300 miles of the trail for my Winter walk. “You DID walk in Winter and that was your “winter walk”, a friend had cajoled.
Now, standing at mile 170, with just over 90 miles to go, I smiled inside that I had come back to the trail this winter and started over again at Mile 0. Although that first winter walk was very powerful, beautiful, and complete in itself, it really was NOT what satisfied me.
And now, with my true goal looking attainable, I was glad I had stuck with the project.
Have you had a goal that has taken more than one try to complete? Tell me about it! Let’s talk!
In joy,
Regina
