Take a Liking to Hiking


  • The General Social Survey recently reported that only 14% of Americans are “very happy” and not surprisingly, 50% feel isolated. 

  • The American Psychological Association has issued their own findings, stating that 70% of Americans consider the time they are living in as the lowest point in US History. 

  • And then there’s Twitter claiming that Americans’ happiness in recent weeks is the lowest ever recorded.

  • Another report offered a solution that’s found in two colors: green and blue. 


In other words, get outside and enjoy the blue sky, some blue waters, and the green grasses and trees. 


This immediately reminded me of Shirley. It was when I was going through my turbulent teens that Mom thought Shirley could help. At 16, I found solace driving my car faster than I should while blaring loud rock music. Mom introduced me to her friend and then left me with her for the day. I might as well have been sentenced to some juvenile detention center.


But Shirley just gave me a wink and said “follow me”. I didn’t realize that following her meant descending a rickety ladder to her lake front tiny home. She talked nonstop. 


She knew how to identify anything edible that grew within her typical hiking radius of 15 miles. Who wanted to hike and find things to eat when you could drive to a store? 

But my attitude didn’t faze Shirley. Eyeing my fancy shoes, she dug through her closet and handed me a well-worn pair of boots. 


Rather than drive to the trailhead, Shirley knew a way to hike to it. Of course, she’d hike 3 miles to get to the place to start a hike. Sigh. Shirley was marching at a brisk pace in front of me so she never saw my frequent eye rolls.



We got deeper into the forest. A silence that’s only found in a place that’s so far from human noise surrounded me. I stopped to listen to the nothingness of it. Shirley smiled. She knew what I was sensing. 


I confess, I lost my teenage attitude with a spell cast by a green forest.  I soon became a hiking buddy with someone nearly as old as my grandma.


But somehow the woods and the water, the greens and the blues, made me feel better about life. As Shirley said, once you take a liking to hiking, you never stop.  I didn’t fully understand it at the time, but I sure do now.





So, America, if those sad statistics are right, the antidote is right outside in the blues and greens. You’ll soon feel better about life.


Let the heavens be glad, and the earth rejoice!
Let the sea and everything in it shout his praise!
12 Let the fields and their crops burst out with joy!
Let the trees of the forest sing for joy.

            Psalm 96:11-12


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