Beyond the Boonies...Taking the Road Less Traveled

 My husband and I decided to drive down an unknown road this afternoon.  I swear that I heard banjos playing.  After a successful mission's banquet at our church, we had the evening off, so we decided to hop into my husband's Jeep and drive deep, deep into the forest to find the Buffalo River.  I am not an outdoor person, so when the pavement ended, I started to get a little anxious.  Because of the time change, I knew that night would fall soon, and I did not want to be stranded in an unknown forest after dark.  My husband, of course, told me to stop worrying.  That's hard for me to do.  Instead of a glass half full kind of person, I am a "there's a crack in my glass" type of person.  I have to focus on the good in order to see past the hard stuff.  Well, as we drove deep into the woods, I started to panic.  What if we got stuck?  Could I push a Jeep out of two feet of mud?  What if we flipped over as we climbed a really high, rocky hill?  What if someone were out shooting for deer and a stray bullet found us?  Could I find my way back to civilization in the dark?  Would I be eaten by wolves?  We continued deeper into the woods.  As we crossed creeks with no bridge, I felt more anxious.  I asked my husband if he were sure the road led to the Buffalo River.  He swore it did.  We continued.  We passed a school bus that someone was using as a home.  I know this because their long underwear was hanging on a clothes line.  I felt more anxious.  What kind of people live in the middle of nowhere?  People who do not want contact with other humans, that's who.  We were other humans.  We continued.  We ended up driving in what seemed like a very rocky creek bed.  We were jolted and rocked as we rumbled over the rocks.  When we reached huge mud tracks, I felt anxious that we would definitely get stuck.  I looked at my husband with his tongue stuck between his teeth.  He only does that when he is concentrating.  He was having to work to keep us from getting stuck! I asked him to turn back multiple times.  Each more harrowing experience made me question the wisdom of the journey.  He continued.  At last, we encountered an absolutely amazing view of the Buffalo River.  We would never have seen it if we had turned back.  On the ride back, I started to see the beauty of the mossy rocks.  We crossed the path of beautiful deer.  It was amazing how much better the view of life was when I focused on the good and beautiful and let go of the worry.  If you are going through hard times, I encourage you to let go of worry.  All the worrying and negative thoughts came to nothing on our adventure.  If you focus on the good and stop wasting your time worrying about things that have not even happened, imagine how much better the view will be.

Have a great week high-heeled warriors!