Staying In The Moment

I can't believe that in just under two months, I will travel one of the grandest, most majestic footpaths in the world!

The anticipation is overwhelming, but rest assured, there's lots for me to do that snaps me back into the here and now every time I begin to fantasize about the trail.

Speaking of the trail, I've decided to do no more research about trail conditions and the like.

I'm done with it.

While I appreciate John Ladd and other kind folks for constantly providing updates about the blowdowns from the freakish wind storm last November, it doesn't apply to me as I don't start my trek until August.

Lots can change from now til then.

Besides, I'm having too much fun preparing for this trip. Call me crazy but I enjoy buying gear, food and other knick-knacks, figuring out which items will go into which resupply box, trying to predict what meal I'd want to eat each day (impossible I know, but hey - I get a kick out of it), and training for the hike.

Everything I mentioned above keeps me in the present moment. It's great!

Focusing my awareness on the tasks at hand keeps me calm and relaxed; whereas worrying about trail conditions - and other stuff I have no control over - makes me anxious and tense.

The John Muir Trail, this trip, isn't the culmination of the skills I've learned and practiced the last few years or anything of that sort.

It's an unfolding of the process that is my life.

So too are the 'chores' I have to do to get 'out there.'

In the last week, I've enthusiastically savored every moment I've spent planing.

There's a joy that has come over me that I can't explain, but its wonderful.