Soul Explorer: Wildwood

I find the promise of adventure difficult to resist.
After getting comfortable with my usual forest trails, I felt it was time to set myself a bigger challenge and I chose Wilcox Park in Tarragindi. In my impatience to breathe in the sweet smell of wood and rain I trampled through a thicket of trees from the road to the trail (not the best idea I've had) but I just couldn't wait to be surrounded by natural beauty.
Every time I step into the forest I feel like I am walking on sacred ground, it's a quiet and peaceful place where I don't think about the things that make me worried or anxious, there's just the wildwood and I have to be present in that moment.

While I was walking down the trail, I saw off-beaten paths that I wanted to explore and I had a revelation about my fascination with them and its because I do that in my own life.

I sometimes make decisions that distract me from the path I originally decided on, mostly when it comes to my career. While these off-beaten paths are fun (and after a couple of bends and twists) I either find myself back where I was or closer to where I want to be. It's a catch-22, you take longer to get to your goal but gain more knowledge and experience.

That's something that Alan and I have in common right now. After years of walking paths that we had chosen out of logic and necessity, we are both giving a great deal of thought to where we want to go next in our careers.
 After a lot of consideration, I decided not to pursue my Diploma in Childcare because while I am good at it, I know in my heart it is not what I should be doing as my career.

On Sunday night just gone I treated myself to dinner and went to a local Taiwanese restaurant where I ordered a deep fried chicken soup and the yummiest iced peach tea I have ever had and emailed the trainer for my course and said that I was ready to leave it be.
I felt peaceful and calm while I typed that email - there was no guilt or grief, just joy in the knowledge that I had made the right decision for me because I felt as though a weight had been lifted in my heart. While it was roughly $1,600 that I can't get back - I know in life there is a pay-off for everything we leave undone and the question is how much we are willing to pay to leave what we began.

Life is like a wildwood.
There are times when we walk on smooth or rough ground, when we stand in the middle of two possible paths and can only choose one to get us home, when we walk down a promising path only to find a dead-end and have to turn back, when there is a steep incline up or down or we take a difficult short-cut only to find out that we only had to go a little further on the road to find a path that leads us to the trail.
I have learnt that in the wildwood of life, we have to take the paths we choose with passion and courage. This is a Bible verse that is very comforting to me today.

Psalm 139:16 
You saw me before I was born. 
Everyday of my life was recorded in your book. 
Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. 

Can't wait to see what the Man Upstairs has got in store for me and Alan!

- Sarah x