Sorry this installment of the “Lessons From the Trail” series is running a day late.  As I head into my busy season this might become a more common occurrence.  I do have several guest posts lined up from various blogger friends in the next few weeks, so be on the lookout for that.  Let’s get to the post…

Reading through my trail journal this week a realization hit me hard!  While on the trail I went wherever the my interests for the day took me.  I had an end goal in mind (hiking the entire Appalachian Trail) but didn’t have a set schedule or plan for accomplishing this.

By June 2000 I was mid-way to my goal of finishing the Appalachian Trail.  My legs and feet had become trail hardened after knocking out 1,000+ miles.  I could easily knock out 3 or 4 miles an hour on the trail if I needed to.  I was well on my way to accomplishing a big goal that I almost gave up on.

I had also learned the value of taking a break from the trail every now and then.  One night in a shelter I was talking with my trail friend Zoom about how fast the hike seemed to be going.  He was purposing to slow down and take more time to enjoy the journey because in the the blink of an eye we would be standing on Mt. Katahdin in Maine at the end of the trail.

I still have the bad habit of rushing through life in the pursuit of goals instead of enjoying the journey.  I’m not the young single guy I was on the trail, but do I allow time in my 2013 schedule for the people and things that matter the most?  One of the best things I can do is remind myself that it is OK to leave things on my “To Do List” for another day and it is perfectly fine to let the phone go to voicemail.

Perhaps one of the most unintentionally harmful words I know of is ‘perfect.’  Dads work jobs that keep them away from home all day long with the hopes of providing the perfect life for their family.  Moms drive themselves crazy trying to achieve a perfect standard for the home.  Children either push themselves too hard for perfection or find it so daunting they don’t even bother trying.  Many Christians give up on their faith because they grow weary of trying to be perfect.  Perfect can be a poison.

Let me share with you an excerpt from Jon Acuff’s book Start that resonated with me…

“…fear and doubt are schizophrenic.  Their favorite thing to do is argue both sides of the coin so that you don’t have a side to stand on.  They love to tell you, “It will never work,” and, “It has to be perfect.”  The first thought tells you that no part of your dream will succeed.  The second thought tells you that every part of it must succeed.  That doesn’t make even a little bit of sense, but you will hear both voices.”

We can accept that life isn’t going to be perfect and we are going to let people down.  The key is making sure that the most important people are cared for and the most important things are done.  Be careful, fear and doubt will try and have their say in your decision.