A Walk in the Woods
Encounters June 22nd, 2008
It seems every year, I know of someone or read of someone who is through hiking the Appalachian Trail. The people who attempt this feat (hike from Georgia to Maine in one continuous time period) come back changed. They have joined a club which many have attempted but few have completed. One of the first steps in hiking the AT is to get a trail name - i.e. “Woman of the Woods”, “Extreme Mountain Man” or “Am I out of my mind to hike over 2000 miles mostly by myself?”. When through hikers return home, they have great stories to tell, new friends they have met along the way, and a desire to talk to someone after having LOTS of silent time in the woods. In the busy world in which we live, few of us really have uninterrupted thinking time. Our endless to do lists, constant meetings, personal time demands, and addiction to technology rob us of silence and thinking time. Our MySpace, Facebook, IM, text messages, twitter, and Google squander away the hours. As much as I try to fight it, I am guilty being online too much.
This morning, I woke up early as usual and had a mammoth to do list. It shouldn’t be that way on a Sunday morning. Of course before doing ANYTHING, I went to my computer to check email and hopefully accomplish a few things before my wife and kids awoke. I don’t typically work on Sunday morning but it is going to be a short week as I leave for a trip to Colorado in a few days. As I was getting organized, I had a strong feeling that I should go for a walk in the woods. What I thought was going to be a short walk turned into a more than three mile walk that jumpstarted my day. Henry David Thoreau knew what he was doing when he went to Walden. Bill Bryson also knew when he took off to hike the AT (read Bryson’s book entitled A Walk in the Woods). As I walked I just breathed and felt myself unwind. Ideas and thoughts drifted in and out of my mind and eventually, I thought about things like my spirituality, the deep green of the woods, the roles I have in life (father, husband, son, and friend, etc.). I thought about my upcoming vacation and a new speech I am writing. I thought about my career and the next steps to move me forward. An insight came in the woods that likely wouldn’t have occurred had I stayed in front of the computer where I initially had started my day.
There’s something about time in the woods that can’t be replaced by anything. Sure, you and I may not be able to take several months off to hike over 2000 miles, but we can take off for 20, 30 or 60 minutes to clear our brains. For the indefinite future if you want to find me on an early Sunday morning, I’ll be right where I was today…walking (and thinking) in the woods.
Tim Richardson is an inspirational speaker who speaks about how giving increases employee morale, lowers employee turnover, increases customer loyalty and creates higher profits for Fortune 500 companies, associations, and national conventions. He is the founder of the The Worlds Biggest Blog Party an event which will connect bloggers from all over the world to raise money for charity. He is also founder and president of the Bill Walter Melanoma Research Fund and co-founder of the Jeffrey Roth Cycling Foundation. Click here for more information on professional speaker Tim Richardson.
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