Choices that are made in Desperation

Today I hiked the Grand Canyon! We hiked; actually we ran down the Kaibab trail and hiked up the Bright Angel trail. But wow! I am so sore. My legs were cramping and I had no ibuprofen or anything that would ease my pain. Anyways, hiking reminded another experience that I had several years ago.

A group of young men and I went hiking in the Superstition Mountains when I was thirteen. I felt fine and dandy as I walked the trail with a small group of about five other boys. We heard panting behind us and turned around to see another boy who had ran to catch us. The pace that we were walking was not a slow one. This other boy who had run to catch us fell behind. I am a firm believer in the buddy system so I decided to have some pity on him and I stayed behind with him. We walked for several hours and in the back of my mind I thought, “I don’t recognize any of these land marks.” I reasoned that we were not on the right path but I kept silent because I was not sure.

As we walked, the trail just suddenly stopped, came to a dead end. We wishfully thought well maybe this is a shortcut and we just have to go off of the trail. But I knew that leaving a trail was a terrible idea that would lead us into the treacherous mountains to never return. I began to sob. I was confused and disoriented. I tore through the bush and trees trying to locate any sign of a trail, but my efforts were in vain. It is a good thing that the trail did end because we would have followed it all day if there was no dead end.

I fell to my knees, exhausted and distressed. I silently said a prayer that I would be alright and that I would know what to do. When I mustered the strength to get up, I immediately knew that we needed to walk back up the trail and see where we had gone wrong. So we began to walk back the deceptive path that had lead us to a dead end.

I will continue this story next week but I would like to share a lesson that I learned from this experience. When life is difficult and you don't know what to do, consider your options. Do not simply do the first thing that comes to mind. The first thing that entered my mind was, “Leave the path, and you will find the other trail. This is a shortcut.” If we would have decided to do that, I would most likely still be in those mountains. In the past few weeks, I have heard that a few people have committed suicide. It breaks my heart that people decide to do that because they think that it is their best option. But I promise that it is not the best option. This is just one extreme example of hasty choices; another example could be dropping out. Consider your options, think of the pros and cons, and of course choose the best option. If none of your options are appealing, then wait until a new option presents it's self. Last but not least, you are strongest when you are on your knees.