HIKING AND STRENGTHS

Yesterday I had the pleasure of spending the day with my two children, Jessica and Liz, hiking on Blood Mountain at Vogel State Park in northern Georgia. It is about an hour and a half drive there from my home. On the drive up, we talked about anything that came to mind, observed the scenery and of course had snacks. We also brought our 80 pound dog, Chloe, and our 11 pound Chihuahua, Coco; both of which wanted to share our snacks.

I love going hiking. Some people get out in the woods and just push on through to get to the end. When the trail guides give an estimate of two hours to hike the trail, I know that we will take three or four. We stop and look at bugs, spiders, flowers and rocks. We like to look in nooks and crannies and discuss what type of creature may live in them. We marvel at tree shapes and sizes. Trees are fascinating. When children draw trees, they draw them straight. Trees are not straight. Add to the mix that Jessica is an incredible photographer and that definitely makes our hikes longer as she captures what she sees on camera. Liz usually brings a drawing tablet and sometimes we stop for her to sketch something that catches her eye.

On our drive up yesterday, we were chatty. For the first half of the hike we were chatty. Then we stopped at the park overlook, sat down and ate our granola bars and apples. We also brought some food for the dogs. The trees are still green and full of leaves so we did not get many views of the surrounding mountains. This spot did, however, have a little peek over a lake and we could see mountains beyond that. Beautiful. The weather was warm with a slight breeze most of the hike. A perfect day for hiking.

After leaving the overlook, we became less chatty; lost in our own thoughts. The woods are a great place for thinking. One of my top five strengths, according to the Clifton Strengthsfinder, is Intellection. Liz has this as one of her top five as well. (Haven’t tested Jessica yet.) Basically, that means I like to think. There is a constant hum inside my head. No, I do not hear voices. If you were to ask me what I was thinking about, most of the time I will not be able to tell you because my thoughts go from one thing to another continually. Before discovering that this is one of my strengths, I thought it was a symptom of depression. It actually can lead to depression if I am not careful and control the negative thoughts. I can stop the negative thoughts, but I can not stop the thinking. That is just how God wired me.

I have recently picked my Strengthsfinder book back up to revisit my strengths. I have enjoyed discovering my strengths. It has helped me to realize that the things about me that I sometimes thought were hindrances in my life are actually my strong points; things that make me who I am. Learning about them gave me permission to be me. One of the things the book suggests for people with an Intellection strength is to write our thoughts down. I am beginning to do that through this blog. Liz, is a writer, too. She has been writing, it seems, since before she could actually write. She has graciously allowed me to read some of her fiction and I am anxious for her to finish one of her many stories. She is really good.

Being a thinker, and an introvert, I need a lot of quiet time. Getting out in the woods is an absolutely wonderful place to go. It is quiet, peaceful. It helps to calm the mind, soothe the spirit. Although for me yesterday toward the end of the four-hour hike, my mind was thinking about my full bladder and which tree could I go behind to relieve myself without anyone seeing me, or me accidentally peeing on my shoes, or squatting over poison ivy, and not fall off the side of the mountain. I held it until we got back down.

Our drive home still had us lost in our thoughts. We left the windows down and the music up. We all, including the dogs, were pleasantly worn out. It was a wonderful day.