I still remember the first time I went hiking…

I was extremely excited because I love doing new forms of physical activity and this had been something that I had always wanted to try. So my friends and I decided to go to this hiking spot about an hour and a half from where we lived to start this new and potentially fun adventure…

The beginning of the hike was absolutely breathtaking. For a few city girls, being in the middle of a forest was a chance to take a step into a scene straight out of a painting. As we continued on our journey, we were suddenly surrounded by luscious green trees towering over us. Streams of water trickled past us. Flowers were blooming with every step we took. Critters of every kind danced and frolicked through the forest. It was definitely a sight to see, and the deeper we traveled into the forest, the more I realized that taking this trip was well worth the hour and a half drive.

Just before the sun started to set, we finally approached the part of our journey that was supposed to be the most difficult part. The mountain that stood before us was going to lead us to the famous waterfall that this hike is known for. As we started to make our way up the side of the mountain, it became clear that the climb was more difficult than any of us had anticipated. The path that we were traveling up was extremely narrow; we barely had enough room to walk up the path in a single file line, let alone side-by-side. And to make matters worse, the rocky and uneven surface of the path made it difficult for us to keep our balance. With no fence or gate protecting us from the terrors that lay below, we realized that with the slightest mis-step we could fall over the side of the mountain and plummet straight to our deaths.

By the time we reached the halfway point, the sun had started to set, so we all stopped to question whether we should keep going or turn around and go back. As difficult and as tiring as the second half of our journey would be, we all decided to push forward. The whole reason we had decided to drive all of that way was so that we could see the waterfall at the end of the trail. Turning back was not an option no matter how difficult the rest of the journey would be, so with beads of sweat dripping from our faces, we continued on to the end of the trail.

Needless to say, the sight that we saw when we reached our final destination was even more breathtaking than the scene that played before us at the start of our trip. The waterfall standing before us cascaded into a pond with rippling water so clear that you would have thought that it was flowing straight from the heavens. As we sat down on a log near the waterfall taking in our surroundings, we all agreed in that moment that the arduous climb that we had taken to reach this magnificent site was well worth all of the trouble.

You see positive thinker, sometimes the path that stands before you can be a difficult one. Your journey may start off smooth, but somewhere along the road you may start to experience twists and turns and rocks in your way. These things may make your journey less smooth, but just because your path isn’t as straight forward as you would like it to be doesn’t mean that what’s awaiting you at the end of the road isn’t amazing. Whenever your path starts to become less smooth you have to sit down and ask yourself if you want to carry on because you only have two options when the road gets rough…

You can choose to give up. You can turn around and undo do all of the hard work that you have put in in order to get as far as you have gotten…

Or you can choose to keep on pushing through. You’ll have to re-work your plan in order to get through these unexpected obstacles, but in the end you’ll have the magnificent prize that awaits you at the end of your journey.

Your path isn’t always going to be easy positive thinker, but if you want that reward that’s awaiting you at the end of your journey then you have to keep on going in spite of the obstacles.

Remember, “Never let a stumble in the road be the end of the journey.”