Traveling Companions

For hikes my back pack has a flashlight, a rolled up rain-jacket, 2 water bottles, my Swiss army knife, an apple & an orange 2 paper napkins and a sandwich bag filled with mixed nuts. This is a day trip so I am traveling light. My camera is around my neck and my two friends are with me. There are several important metaphoric lessons I have learned from my hiking trips.  Of all the things I have to carry the friends are the most important of all.

A couple of years ago we were on a major hike in the Berkshires. The plan was to backpack & spend the night under the stars. Well, I am a bit of a novice and took too much stuff. I had gotten about 2 hours into the hike and could hear my heart loudly beating in my head. The surrounding trees started to appear to sway sideways and one of my buddies looked at me and said: you don’t look so good. I had slowed down and still felt exhausted.  We looked through my bag and discovered I put in a few extra bottles of water which were weighing me down tremendously. My friends immediately took a few things to lighten my load. It’s hard to say but what a relief. This was a time in my life when asking for help was so difficult. I could not believe the difference. I kept checking in with my friends to ask if they were over burdened and they were incredulous with me. This is what friends do Jo! Well we made it to the summit in another hour and a half. Oh what a glorious trip.

This hike was jam packed with lessons~ the summit is sweeter when you are so tired ~travel light/ share your load when you can~ don’t take on more than you can handle. What stands out most for me is: that of all those things I packed, the most important choice were the friends I went with. So how much more important it is when you are travelling through our lives~ who are you hanging with ~ are they carrying their own weight, are they helping you to get to the goal~ are they in your corner? It matters more then I can say so look around and pick your friends very carefully. Let me know how your friends and loved ones affect your life.