“Attitude”
"Believe you can and you're half way there."
I noticed something disturbingly significant recently: the older I get, my whole attitude toward life and its challenges and rewards is undergoing a powerful and sometimes disturbing and annoying change. Always one to rise to a challenge, I find myself more or less picking my battles, now. Where I once had the protective cushion of youth to safe-guard my body from reckless actions, I now find myself asking one important question before I do mostly anything lately, and that is, “Will this land me in the hospital?” If the answer is even remotely “YES”, I put my decision on hold for a while and really carefully think the situation over before taking action. However, there are always those situations that crop up where I find myself having to make a split-second decision – and those are the ones I remember best.
One day, my walking buddy, Ann, and I decided to go for one of our famous hikes in Whistling Chicken Park
At about the three quarters of the way to the top of the hill point (mountain -- I insist!) , in front of us in our path was what seemed to be a smooth, somewhat curiously rounded surface. Apparently, it was a kind of bridge that spanned a gap of at least 40 or 50 feet across. It was hard to see exactly what it spanned because of the low-lying brush and forest plants growing in mass profusion. However, whatever this thing was, we needed to cross it in order to continue our hike.
Without missing a beat, Ann continued to chatter away as she half walked, half sprinted across this strange bridge. And, without thinking, I proceeded to follow her. Until…..
I came to a screeching halt at about midway of this peculiar walkway. It finally dawned on me that what we were walking on was, of all things, a pipe! Oh, it was huge – make no mistake about that! And, it was round, all right. It was so round that if you stood still in one spot, you could feel the edge of the surface fall away from your feet and you realized you were actually poised on just ONE little area, and it wasn’t flat. AND….the ground below you was at least 20 or more feet away from you; and the farther along the pipe you went, the farther away the ground below you became!
Of all the times in my life for me to freeze, it had to be then. Honest to God, I could not move one inch in any direction! My legs began to shake, my heart began to pound, and my throat went dry. I could barely call out to Ann, who by now was on the other side of the chasm.
“Help!” I tried to call to her in a strangled whisper. God bless her, she didn’t hear me and kept going! Talking a blue streak to absolutely no one for a distance of about 20 or so more feet, she finally realized that I was not answering her. She turned around to ask me what was wrong, and that’s when she saw me stuck on the pipe! She kind of chortled to me, “Hey! You’re not afraid to cross this pipe, are you?” I had all I could to do keep from screaming at her, “WHAT IN THE HELL DO YOU THINK??!” Instead, I let discretion be the better part of valor and meekly replied, “Yes – very afraid!”
She doubled back, trotting to the point (the show-off!) I was by now mentally and physically glued to, and reached for my hand.
“NO!!! NO!!” I yelled. “Don’t touch me!!” So afraid that I’d fall and take her with me, I wouldn’t let her within one foot of me.
“Marie! You need to move – c’mon, you can do it! It’s just one foot, then the other….” she lamely encouraged.
As God is my witness, I could not get my feet or legs to move! They were frozen fast to the pipe and I could feel myself beginning to feel a little faint. To make matters worse, it was by now late afternoon and we were losing the bright sunlight, the sun beginning its descent far above the canopy of the tall trees. And, don’t forget, we were in a section of the park where people with good sense do not travel because it is too high, and too far away from the rest of humanity, in the event of trouble, or a problem. (Note to self: “Duh!!”)
Finally, too afraid that I’d faint and go pitching head-first onto the rocks in the yawning gap below – and also too afraid I wouldn’t be able to see very well in about a half hour – I made the decision to move at least one of my feet. Surprisingly, it moved! All of the sayings I could ever think of regarding winning/losing, attitude, perseverance, tenacity and what-have-you, are what I concentrated on; and believe it or not – they worked!!
Inch by agonizing inch, I moved along back to my starting point, which was blessed, marvelous, and firm ground. Never had any other victory in my life felt so sweet!!
Yes, it’s amazing how getting older can change one’s perspective on life! I’ve learned that attitude is only half the win: keeping out of situations where you know you are only asking for trouble is the other. Or, if worse comes to worse, and you don’t listen to that little inner voice of reason, then at least remember this:
"If you think you can, you can. And if you think you can't, you're right. "
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| View of creek from path |
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| Path in park, leading up to the start point of our hike |
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| Impossibly tall trees! Tall enough to block out the later afternoon sun |
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