On many occasions I have wandered through dense woods, both on foot and while riding an ATV (All Terrain Vehicle). It doesn’t take long to notice that the more a path is traveled, the bigger it becomes, and the easier it is so see.
When I take a path repeatedly, it breaks the branches from adjacent trees that grow into the space of the path, and it compacts the undergrowth that tends to trip me up. Sometimes I take a pair of limb loppers with me to further enlarge the path.
If I ignore a path, on the other hand, the underbrush and then small trees begin to grow in the space, and in just a few years, the path disappears completely—as though it never existed.
I have seen such a pattern many times in my own life. If I choose a path of feelings or behavior often enough, it becomes easier and easier to take. Without thinking, I begin to take that path more often. If that path is a response to emptiness and fear, my decisions will become more and more unloving, and eventually the loving choices become invisible and impossible to take.
Follow the people who know where they’re going, even if the paths they walk seem unfamiliar to you. The more you walk them, the broader the path becomes and the easier to take.
