Walking on Wednesday ~ The Long Walk is Part of the Gift

When a young girl in Africa heard that her teacher would be leaving their village, she wanted to give her a special gift.  The girl didn't have any money to buy a present for her teacher, but finally she decided what she would do.  

The Long Walk
photo: Raige Creations at Craggy Pinnacle

She was gone for two days and when she returned she was carrying the most exquisite shell anyone in her village had ever seen. Her teacher was amazed.  "Where did you get this?" she asked. The child told her that such shells were found only on a certain faraway beach.

The teacher was deeply touched, because she knew that the girl had walked many miles to find the shell. "You shouldn't have traveled so far just to find a gift for me," she said. The girl smiled and explained, "The long walk is part of the gift."

The Tree and the Rock
photo: Raige Creations at Craggy Pinnacle

It is an old story, one I read probably 30 years ago in Reader's Digest. The girl was a boy and the teacher was a him, but the story was the same. The long walk (the journey) is part of the gift. 

This story stuck with me all these years, and I try to remember it in my own journeys. The paths we take are part of the journey to get us where we need to be. But we must not go along the path without taking in every step. We must treat the journey as important as the destination.

It is not easy. Sometimes we just aimlessly wander different paths, uncertain of the destination. Sometimes we enjoy each step and learn with each stumble, sometimes we do not pay attention to the journey at all. Other times we only have our eye on the prize. 

Pause Sometimes
photo: Raige Creations at Craggy Pinnacle

Sometimes we need to pause on our journey, to see where we have come from in order for us to see where we should be heading. Sometimes we pause too long, and it is difficult to start the journey again. 

Little Birdie High On A Mountaintop
photo: Raige Creations at Craggy Pinnacle

We must remember to stop and see the little birdies, smell the flowers, enjoy the blueberries. Enjoy the steps along the way. 

Stop and Enjoy the Blueberries
photo: Raige Creations at Craggy Pinnacle

Be sure to enjoy the views as they are then, as the next time you may pass this way they may be different. This hike I took yesterday is the same one I took a year and a half ago. It was almost Spring, this time it was almost Fall. Besides the obvious differences, there was also my perception of the entire journey. I am in a different place in my life, and thus the things I noticed were different. The views were different, the pace was different.

The journey was no less spectacular, the feeling at the end was just as profound, but it was a different journey with a different gift waiting for me. 

At Cloud Level
photo: Raige Creations at Craggy Pinnacle

Whatever journey you are on, remember the journey is part of the destination. The long walk is part of the gift.