I Didn’t Know
In this picture, I'm standing on top of a ledge that I would have never even thought about climbing if it wasn't for Bryce.
I met Bryce and Malcolm when I was hiking after work near Salt Lake City. We were walking about the same pace so instead of me unintentionally eavesdropping on their conversation (did you know Washington is statistically the hardest place to make friends?) we walked up to Stewart Falls together.
As we approached the Falls, there came a point in the trail where it divided. If I had been there alone, I would have looked at the rough rock to the right and immediately followed the easier path down to the bottom. But I wasn't alone, I was with Bryce, and Bryce found a "not-a-path" that led up to a higher look out. I nervously followed him across a very steep section. As I made my way I slipped and slid down, cutting my leg, tearing my pants, and giving myself quite a large bruise that I would find later. I was okay though, and when I made it over I turned back to Malcolm and told him “piece of cake.”
Once I made it over to the higher ledge, I realized that scaling the mountain wasn’t as scary as it looked. Grabbing the natural rock was just as easy as a man made climbing wall at a gym. Not only was it easy, but it was fun! I climbed as high as I could safely go, turned around and looked at the valley below. What a rush it was to enjoy a view that I earned with my own sweat and courage. I like this, I thought. I didn’t know I would like this so much, but I do.
At 35, I didn’t think there was anything new left to discover about myself. This is it, I used to think. This is who I am. But what I discovered on that hike is that the person I am is who I am in my environment and around my people. But when I’m taken out of it and exposed to different places, people and challenges, I open up space for different parts of me to emerge. Parts I didn’t know were there.
After that one hike with Malcolm and Bryce, I took every chance I had to climb a little higher. Just as Bryce showed me what was possible, I became that stranger for others around me showing them that they could go just a little bit higher.
I hope the next time I’m faced with a fork in the path, I don’t just take the one that looks familiar because “that’s who I am.” I hope I try something new and I hope you do too because you never know. You may be 35, 55 or 75, it doesn’t matter. Maybe, just maybe, there’s still a part of you that’s waiting to come out.
