On the Wrong Path
Is there such a thing?
A recent review of The Way Home, available now:
If you are in any sort of life transition - work, location, relationship, identity - or if you’re trying to find your way, then this book is for you. Ben crafts a marvelous story, with absolute authenticity and vulnerability, that had me turning pages non-stop.
Two paths diverged in the woods,
and I took the wrong one.
On Friday I unplugged and went hiking for the day. I didn’t realize how desperately I needed to get away from screens and email and a blinking cursor.
A little over a mile into the section of the Ice Age Trail I intended to hike, I suddenly became aware of TWO paths, side by side. I assumed the high and low paths would reconnect a moment later. And so, rather mindlessly, I hopped on the lower path.
It was a gorgeous trail, winding along ridges, around and over the abundant kettles—deep depressions in the earth formed over 10,000 years ago by retreating glaciers. As I continued, I noticed more intersecting trails and signs, but didn’t think anything of it. And after four miles, I arrived at a parking lot where a map revealed to me that I had been hiking on mountain biking trails (the word “mountain” being used VERY loosely here in Wisconsin). I was less than a mile from where I had begun.
I had traveled in a giant loop.
Oops.
The upside? At least the parking area had an outhouse, I guess…
The downside? This detour meant I wouldn’t have time to hike as far as I planned.
I was slightly annoyed, but overall I was pretty unfazed by the mistake. I was more confused. Where had I made a wrong turn? I had completely forgotten about the two paths…. Until a little while later, I came upon the diverging paths again, and remembered.
This time I took the one on the left. As I walked on in my originally intended direction, I couldn’t help but reflect on how in life I have sometimes felt like…
I took a wrong turn.
I got lost in the woods.
I did all of this work—just to end up right back where I started.
But then the trail started to show me things. The deer galloping in the distance. The miniature butterfly with its painted wings. The dancing dragonfly duet. And the serene lake I arrived at right on time for a lunch break… Experiences I would have missed if I had been on this “correct” trail earlier when I planned to be.
It all was teaching me:
There is no such thing as a wrong turn.
We are never lost.
We are, always, exactly where we need to be,
experiencing what we need to experience,
growing,
becoming.
“What I know of the divine sciences and the Holy Scriptures, I have learned in woods and fields. I have no other masters than the beeches and the oaks.”
― St. Bernard of Clairvaux
Beautiful ❤️