Finding your zen moment
Sometimes we get so focused on checking things off the list that we forget to enjoy them along the way. We often feel like we don’t have enough time to do everything, so we are forced to pick and choose the places to visit, the stops we make, the time we spend in each place. The truly great moments are when we don’t have a rushed timeline, when we can enjoy the places and activities that give us joy and skip over the stress and stops that don’t.
When we visited Acadia National Park, we woke up very early one day to try to catch the sunrise on Cadillac Mountain or along the cliffs. It was cloudy and overcast, so it was a bit of a dud, but we were in the park early, so we had most of the trails and spots to ourselves. We ventured over to Jordan Pond, and it was so windy, we nearly turned away to head somewhere else. But we pressed onward and as we made it to the backside of the pond, along the raised walkway, the wind let up and it was so peaceful. With the mountains in the background and the quiet water, it was quite lovely. As seen on the cover picture, there was a beautiful rock jetting out along the pond, and Jackson ran ahead, sat down, and enjoyed a quiet moment. After snapping the picture, I sat next to him for a few min of quiet thoughts. This was not a posed picture but I remember thinking how cool it was that he felt the desire and took the time to enjoy the moment (and he let me share it a little).
It’s funny how the kids will surprise us from time to time. When we were in Moab, we visited Arches National Park a couple times. On our last day there, I suggested we have a quiet night and get ready to leave the next day, but both kids insisted we had to go back to Arches one more time. How could I argue? It’s a beautiful place. They told me they wanted to bring their cameras and ipads because they wanted to document their favorite spots in the park. So, we did. It was cold and windy, but we rushed around before it got dark and stopped at different spots so they could take pictures of their favorite rock formations. As a parent, it’s pretty awesome to see your kids enjoying the journey and falling in love with nature.
To be honest, when you’re working all day, encouraging kids to get their work done, and visiting parks in the evenings, it’s a little hard to get a moment to yourself. But when the moment presents itself, you have to take it. Sometimes it’s just a brief moment at an overlook or along a hike. Sometimes it’s when the kids run around the campground. But when you’re in a beautiful place like Utah, and you’ve just completed the scariest part of the narrow off-road trail, you see the Colorado River winding through the rocks below you, and it’s a sunny warm day… you take a moment to savor it.
The same can be said for accomplishing something difficult and taxing. When we were in the Rockies, we weren’t expecting as much snow and cold weather as we experienced (it was nearly 70 degrees at our campground an hour away). We hiked through really harsh winds and cold temperatures, with blizzard-like conditions as we approached each frozen lake. After debating turning back, and then missing our turn around because we were a little disoriented, we were relieved to finally reach Emerald Lake. On the way back, the weather cleared a little and we were all excited that we pushed ourselves. The views weren’t the rewarding part (in fact, we couldn’t see much of anything). Knowing that we pushed through difficult conditions and reached beyond what most kids had attempted was what gave us pride and enjoyment that day.
