The Dog Poo of Life

Bubbles Mountain, located in Acadia National Forest in Maine, is 872 feet tall and is for most folks an easy hike to get to the top. But for me at least - it did take some effort.

I was told it would take 20 minutes to get to the top. That was probably close to being accurate. The goal was to hike to the top and enjoy the spectacular view and to discover the mountain top experience.

There were six of us that climbed the mountain. The trail was rocky and a little treacherous and for much of the way we had to go in single file. Treacherous in that some of the path was straight up and a fellow my age could easily sprain an ankle or break a leg or even a neck. The people with me were in the same boat.

But we reached our goal, the top of the mountain. It was definitely a gorgeous sight and there was at bit of accomplishment that we all made it up in spite of the obstacles. The mountain top experience was real but it was temporary. We spent a few minutes looking around and taking pictures and then it was time to head back down the mountain which was someone easier than the trip up.

Just as the end was in sight and our little excursion was almost done and we were walking out of woods - a not so funny thing happened.

I stepped in a big pile of dog poo. That could only happen to me.

I made an attempt to scrape it off my shoes before I joined my five companions in our vehicle but the shoes were not dog poo friendly. The treads were new and deep and dog poo was in every tread. And the odor I brought with me was not appreciated by the other folks in the car.

I finally got back to the hotel and tried to clean the shoes. I got most of it out of the not so dog poo friendly shoes but not all of it. A little bit of dog poo goes a long way - so I put the shoes in a bag and sealed it up. A couple of nights later I got the equipment I needed to clean the shoes and I was back in service with my not so dog poo friendly Nike’s.

Now to the point.

Life is an incredible journey. The mountain top experiences are wonderful but the prize is always in the journey. Sometimes there is dog poo in our path. We surely want to avoid it if possible but sometimes we just step in it. We are negatively affected and the people around us are negatively affected. And it can take some time to get over it.

The choice we have is to not let the dog poo of life rob us from the beauty of the journey.

It is definitely a choice we make.