So this week I decided to challenge myself to hike once every week for the next 52 weeks…mostly the same trail up in the Hereford area of Gunpowder State Park in the northern part of Baltimore County, MD. No excuses for weather or temperature. I’ve been hiking this trail for years and there’s always something new to see, new to think, or new to experience. It is on this trail that I have had my most important realizations about life and in particular, about why being single doesn’t always suck.
Today’s hike was all about the rain. The rain we weren’t supposed to get until the afternoon. Seriously. I had watched our local weather guy yesterday morning and he said there was only a chance of showers and storms in the afternoon, and even then, it wouldn’t be a total washout. So I threw a bunch of Coke Zeros and power bars in my backpack, coaxed Kirby, my Jack Russell, into his harness and out the door we went.
Driving to the trail a few raindrops hit my windshield. “Meh,” I said. “Probably just a fluke. Surely it’ll clear up by the time we get on the trail.”
Nope.
As Kirby and I started the five mile loop that typically takes us about 3 hours to cover, the raindrops were still sporadically coming down. Thankfully, there was enough of a leaf canopy in the woods that most of these drops didn’t make it all the way to the ground. So we kept going.
About two hours into our hike, we hit the meadow. No cover there, but thankfully, there wasn’t a single drop coming down by the time we got there. Unfortunately, this state of affairs was about to change dramatically.
We made the turn back into the woods for the final leg of the hike and the skies opened. Opened to the point that by the time we finally did make it back to the truck and dragged our completely soaked bodies home, I couldn’t find a windshield wiper setting fast enough to keep up with the deluge.
I’m not going to say I wasn’t a tiny bit consternated by this turn of events as the rain really started to come down. It wasn’t supposed to be raining! I had planned the hike to take advantage of what the weatherman said would be dry hours! Now here I was sloshing through the miniature river that the trail became, trying not to notice the accusing stares of my dog, who glanced balefully back at me every two or three steps as if he thought I was personally responsible for the bedraggled look he was now sporting.
But if there’s one thing I’ve learned in recent years it’s this: as Byron Katie puts it, “When I argue with reality, I lose—but only 100% of the time.” Love that quote. It’s so true. The apostle Paul said it this way in Romans 9:20 “Who are you, a mere human being, to argue with God?” There’s just no point. I could’ve spent the rest of the hike feeling pissed off about the unexpected rain, essentially arguing with God, but it never would have changed the fact that it was raining.
So I dumped the consternation and decided to just be present for the experience of hiking in a torrential downpour without proper protective gear. I found myself giggling for the rest of the hike. I could only imagine how Kirby and I must’ve looked, although I’m sure there was more than a passing resemblance to a pair of drowned rats. The harder it rained, the more hilarious it was. I had always wondered what caused the min-piles of debris on the trail; today I got my chance to see how quickly it transformed from dry land to running water. The sound of the rain falling through the forest was incredibly relaxing…something I could’ve fallen asleep to if I hadn’t been trying to get a very annoyed dog back to the car. I was able to find joy in the situation, which is a good thing, because the truck was a good 25 minutes down the trail.
This concept is one that I’ve found benefits me when I think about how I am single when I’d really like a significant other to share my life with. I can be frustrated with God, I can argue with reality, I can live feeling frustrated and angry that my life doesn’t look like I expected it to look right now. But there’s no point. I’d much rather feel joy. I’d much rather continue my search for a life partner feeling happy and content than feeling angry and frustrated. Seriously, which facial expression do you find more attractive? Joyful? Or angry?
This week I encourage you to take some time and look at areas in your life where you might be arguing with reality. Ask yourself where that argument is getting you.
Would you be willing to consider the idea that maybe your undesired single state doesn’t have to mean being miserable?
More on this next time, peeps. In the meantime, shoot me a comment below…I would love to hear your thoughts!
