On the trail again today. I had to stop and laugh out loud when I had the following epiphany:
More difficult are the trunks of giant trees that lay across the path. These behemoths have lived for years and are not easily worn away. People will continue to negotiate the obstacle and it will eventually...after years and years...breakdown. You know these kinds of obstacles - day in and day out always in your way.
Obstacles on the trail eventually wear down, get pushed aside, decompose, rot OR someone comes along with a saw.
This thought hit me when I noticed a very dead, very brown leafy limb off to the side of the trail. Over time the trees and limbs that block the path disintegrate back into the path or migrate off the path and out of the way as people continue maneuver around/over/under them.
This method of gradual erosion works on obstacles that are of the movable, flexible variety. Those bushy, leafy limbs that are easily lifted or held down yield most quickly to a natural breakdown or are easily shifted aside.
I've noticed over the last couple years of using the trails, however, that more often than not when there's a big tree blocking the path someone will come along with a saw and simply cleave the offender into pieces which are then easily moved from the path. I like this idea from the perspective of the person being impeded...not so much from the perspective of me as obstacle!
In what areas of my life am I an obstacle to my own progress or to others? In what areas of my life could I be the wielder of the saw that provides easy progress for those who follow?
What about you? Can you relate to the obstacle or the person clearing the obstacle?
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