Lessons From The Trail

OEP 10-3-12

When is the last time you learned something by getting it right? It happens occasionally but more often than not we learn from our mistakes, our failures.

Yesterday was a perfect example of this dynamic for two friends and me. The three of us were hiking at Ghost Ranch, New Mexico and had set out about 9:00 a.m. with plenty of food and water for the top of Mesa Montosa . My friends had made the hike before and had successfully come off the mesa down a dry stream bed, but didn't remember exactly where it was.

To make a long story (and long day) short, suffice to say we had numerous "learning experiences" as we searched for our way down, always keeping in mind to leave enough daylight to make our way back to the trail we had taken up.

At the end of the day even though we were tired and sore, and had not reached our intended destination, we considered the day a great success. We enjoyed the camarderie of the hike, saw spectacular vistas, re-discovered physical capabilities of younger days, and learned a great deal about Mesa Montosa that we hadn't know before. Most of all we learned that we're going to find the end of that elusive stream bed and make our way up it, so that next time we'll know our way down.

There is no such thing as failure as long as we are willing to learn from our mistakes.