A few weeks ago I was on a trip which you can say was a spiritual pilgrimage in which a relatively small group of us had an opportunity to visit a wonderful place. This place that I speak of offers many activities and among those we took hikes the first couple of days up two hills.

The hike is a walk through very rough terrain composed of rocks, boulders and just a handful of flat areas where you can step with confidence. One of the hills is about 1200 ft above sea level and the other about 1500 ft depending on your fitness level, it can be challenging or easy to hike up each one, but the journey up and down the hills made me think of many things as I learned from these hikes up to the top of both hills.

First of all you have to visualize the surroundings, these hills have a very similar look and they are made up of solid rocks and boulders that peak out of the earth. As you look around there are no flat spots which to step on without some type of balancing act. Every single step you take is one where you are not on flat ground, you are either tippy toeing around boulders or balancing over them. Every step is an act of faith and trust that:

• Your foot does not slip.
• You have the strength to take the step.
• That you balance as you find that other place to step onto.

Now as I took my time to hike up the rocky surface and observe hundreds of people hiking up and others walking down these hills, I witnessed many things.

I saw people from all ages trying to maneuver their way through this difficult terrain in order to get to the top.

You would see people with walking sticks probing around to determine where to step then using their sticks as a balancing tool, taking their time and assuring each step was secure and firm.

I also witnessed people that seemed to be very comfortable as they moved from stone to rock to boulder to flat spots in between with more ease.

And as I observed so many different people using different techniques, different paths and basically going at a different pace, this reminded me of how we journey through life and sometimes are faced with a difficult path, where you question every decision and you might feel like you are not certain, like when walking on the hill and trying to step on solid ground and you feel like you have to balance at every step as you survey the area and try to find an easy path ahead that will make the next few steps easier.

However as you walk forward to take that easy path you find that someone or something is blocking that path and you have to find another way that might be more difficult in order to get to your goal.

During all this observation there were many factors, people, the elements, the terrain but what made it different was the way that every person approached the hike up and down the hill.

What I noticed is that the people who where decisive in their steps no matter what obstacle they approached, where the ones that were making the hike seem easier, and those people that where decisive, where from all ages, but you could notice the firmness in each step they took, committed to it and trusting that the step would bring them closer to their goal.

For me it was a great representation of life as I saw the hundreds of people walk through rough terrain at their own pace, maybe with more uncertainty but all of them trying to to get to the goal of reaching the top.

This showed me that no matter the circumstances , when there is a goal and you are really committed to it, you will do whatever possible to reach it.

Some of the people seemed to have challenges with ailments and physically you could see the struggle but there was a drive in them that would fuel them to keep going. I can tell you that at the top I saw everyone that started the journey and saw no evidence of anyone quitting once they started.

And as we journey through life we can use this great example that when things are hard we should have faith and take firm and decisive steps towards our goal and only by trying and keeping movement forward you will get the certainty that will allow you to take firmer steps towards your goals.

And even though it might get tough we as humans are resilient and will find a way through with faith, resilience and love.

E. Luna