“Phew . . . I was beginning to think I was OFF the trail.”

“No,” I assured him, “you’re okay. You’re on the path.”

Our eyes met.

A connection was made.

And he continued forward.

It was an encounter I had hiking a mountain last week.

But after wishing each other well, it got me thinking.

How often in life do our struggles seem so overwhelming that we feel scared, nervous, and desperately ALONE.

It can be a heart wrenching season feeling a bit abandoned by God, and well, everyone until someone comes along and says -

YOU’RE OKAY

I’VE BEEN THERE

YOU GOT THIS.

I think it’s a declaration for that word we’re all a bit frightened of:

VULNERABILITY

When we step outside of the white picket fence and share our own stories of rising up against seemingly insurmountable obstacles in our “real” lives it reminds us not only of our own strengths, but perhaps more importantly, it puts us on a path to LIFT ANOTHER.

Perceived perfectionism is so yesteryear.

Let’s be beautifully open so others who feel they’re lost can see US and all our imperfections and believe again in THEMSELVES.

Connections help us trust the slow, but very necessary process of growth that’s both painfully and beautifully required.

We’re all on the right path.

Each climbing different sections of difficulty.

But the hike of life is a bit easier when the experience is SHARED.