I swear there is a natural internal force that calls us to the mountains. Something about these beautiful natural forms of artwork has always had a special place in my heart. Hiking is something I wish I had more time to do, heck, it's something I need to make more time to do. Every time I get out on a hike my mind and body bring me to places that soothe my soul. This particular hike, Wilcox Pass, was no exception. It's located in Jasper National Park, near the Icefields Centre. It is a round trip of 8 km (5 mi) and an elevation gain of 335 m (1100 ft). It took us around 2.5 hours. Never have I been on a hike that was so instantly and extravagantly gratifying. During this hike I found my mind wandering a lot. On that morning, while traveling to the Wilcox trailhead, I really was not feeling it. I wanted to be lazy and just relax. Jason was persistent, though, in getting me off my butt, and I'm soo grateful he was.
I went into this hike with the mindset to get it done fast. The way I saw it, the faster I got it done the faster I could get back to relaxing, haha. Little did I know what I was about to experience. From the beginning, I had my head down and was just pushing through this hike, the end goal being to get it done quickly. About a half hour in Jason said something I won't ever forget. Sarcastically he told me to not forget to look up, I gave him my usual death glare and continued on. He couldn't have said it at a better time. Five minutes later we came around a bend and there sat the 2 red chairs. Jason had his signature half-smile, told-you-so look on his face while we took in a view that would stop anyone in their tracks. It was like I had an epiphany. We all go through life just charging through, trying to get to our destination. Little do we realize that if we forget to look up and look around we can miss some of the most spectacular moments. The quote "It's the Journey, not the destination" took a whole new literal meaning lol. Life's about these moments. The moments you aren't expecting, and if you don't force yourself in the hard times to stop and look up you may miss something so captivatingly beautiful. After my moment I wanted to be nowhere else. I committed to enjoying every second of the hike (journey) until the very end. When you take this concept and reflect it onto life, in general, it can be quite an eye-opener. We don't always have Jason's around to remind us to look up and reflect. Don't allow what life is really about to pass you by because you were too stubborn to look up.
So I'm going to be your "Jason" for today and encourage you to STOP! Look around and just feel gratitude for 5 things in your life right now. It can be something as simple as the sun coming up. For me, one of the things I'm grateful for is all of you. Thank you for taking the time out of your day to read this and for being part of my journey. :)