Day 7

Imagine you’re going on a hike.

You plan the route.
You map out where you’ll go.
What views you’ll see.
How long it will be.
You anticipate the terrain.
The weather conditions.

You can imagine what this experience will be like.
You have an idea of it in your mind.

And this route, its trail markers have all been laid out by other people.

There are reviews of this route. Pictures of people who have hiked it.
Advice from those who have come before you,
saying “do what I did” or “don’t do what I did.”

And this helps you feel even more secure in this hike you’ve planned.

Now imagine you show up to this hike and begin down the trail,
but at a certain point the trail markers stop or the path is closed.

And now you have no idea where to go.

But there’s a couple breadcrumbs nearby, leading somewhere else.
And you head in that direction to find out there are more breadcrumbs,
and you follow these breadcrumbs.

And you have no idea where they are taking you,
you just follow them—one after the other.

This takes you into unfamiliar territory.
It takes you down different paths.
Sometimes it takes you where there aren’t any paths at all.

Those areas are challenging,
but they lead to the most beautiful views.
Views you never would have experienced if that trail wasn’t closed.

You worry about food and water.
Will there be enough?
Yet these breadcrumbs continue to lead you to sources of food and water,
which become available precisely when you need them.

And even though you don’t know where you’re going or how long it will take or if there is even a destination to begin with, there’s always another breadcrumb before you.

And you begin to trust where these breadcrumbs are leading you.

And you begin to trust that all you have to do is follow them.