I have been thinking this morning about the following quote by J.R.R. Tolkien: “Not all those who wander are lost.”
Many years ago, when I was a young summer camp counselor, I went for a hike with an older and more experienced counselor. We were hiking down a mountain with a group of kids. The trail we were on was well marked and the path was well worn until we came to a pine forest. Then, it just stopped.
I turned to the experienced counselor and said, “What happened here? Where did the trail go?”
He paused for a moment and then said, “The trail we are on is called The Eclectic Trail. This is the eclectic part. You get to choose the path.”
I just stood there with a stunned look on my face. I had never encountered this kind of trail before.
He continued, “We have two choices here. We can continue walking down hill through this pine forest until we come to some big rocks where the trail will reappear. Or we can walk along the stream bed until we see some big rocks and then search off to our left where the trail will reappear. Either way, we just keep walking downhill with the stream on our right and the trail will reappear.”
I thought about it and then said to all of our campers, “Which way do you want to go? Through the pine forest or along the stream?”
They voted for the stream and since we were all in shorts and sneakers. In the end, we actually hiked in the stream that afternoon.
I had never hiked in a stream before that afternoon and it was a fantastic experience. Some parts were shallow and other parts were chest high. Some of it even involved swimming. Everyone had a blast.
After a while, we came across some very large rocks. Then, we hiked out of the stream and headed off to our left where all of sudden the path reappeared.
I think there are many times in our life as a leader when we discover we are hiking on The Eclectic Trail. What was once all clear and straight forward becomes unclear. We are not exactly sure where the path is and when the big rocks will show up.
In the corporate world where we like having every thing be orderly and completely predictable, we struggle with these moments when the pathway is not perfectly clear. We want life and work to be organized.
Yet, our challenge is to embrace these mysterious moments and to trust that the path will become clear in time.
We have to give ourselves permission to wander and become comfortable with not being lost. But also not being completely clear on what is coming next.
We just need to keep walking in the right direction, staying true to our values and beliefs. Then, in due course, the pathway will become clear again.
Over the course of many summers as a camp counselor, I routinely hiked The Eclectic Trail. It was one of my favorites. I especially liked it when the campers voted to hike in the creek. I just had to trust my sense of direction and embrace the mystery of the journey.
I hope you will do the same this winter as you move forward. It is within these mysterious moments that much is revealed.
Happy hiking!
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