Trail Markers...
Clues, Invitations, and other Important Things we've Missed!
“Our entire lives are a series of trail markers, inviting us to remember and reclaim who we are and the reason we are alive.”
I awakened to darkness and deep quiet. It took me a moment to remember where I was. I lay perfectly, still not wanting to awaken my family. My wife lay beside me on the thin mattress of our camper. Our two young daughters were still sleeping at the other end of our pop-up.
The realization of where I was brought a lump to my throat. A mixture of excitement, wonder, and trepidation lay upon me like a thick blanket. As I lay there, the last months of my life played before me like a movie screen. I recalled the journey of remembering that I had been on.
As the movie played. I recalled how my life had crumbled, destroying everything I had built only to reveal something deeper that could never be destroyed. I recalled my journey of remembering and retracing the pathways through the wildness of my heart. Remembering my childhood dream of moving to the mountains in New York and building a resort. How my heart jumped the first time my computer downloaded pictures of the Adirondack High Peaks! How I’d read everything I could get my hands on describing this place called the Adirondacks. I recalled knowing I wanted to live there before I arrived. As I lay in our camper surrounded by the early morning darkness, I was suddenly wide awake at the realization I was here!
We had arrived late in the evening the night before, after an 8+ hour drive. After setting up Camp and having a late-night dinner, we crawled into our camper, surrounded by towering mountains and fresh Adirondack air. A few hours later, we were awakened by our first-ever mountain thunderstorm. The combination of deafening rain on the canvas of our pop-up and the surround sound effect of the claps of thunder echoing from mountain summit to mountain summit in total darkness was not to be soon forgotten!
Leaving the family sleeping, I crept quietly from the camper. Soon, around a blazing campfire with my morning coffee, I sat basking in the wonder of being surrounded by this beauty I longed to call home, wondering if I would ever find a way.
After cooking over an open-fire family breakfast, we decided we wanted to explore. We were camping at a campground at the base of Whiteface Mountain. Whiteface is the fifth-highest mountain in York State and is the Olympic ski mountain. It boasts of being the greatest vertical-drop ski resort in the east. With my love of snow, I had followed the snow reports of this mountain from my home in Pennsylvania. Camping in the shadow of it filled me with quiet exhilaration.
Loving the outdoors but having little to no hiking experience, my family and I foolishly thought we could hike to the summit from our campground. Armed with a couple of water bottles, sneakers, and everyday clothes, we were quickly overwhelmed by rushing water from the night's thunderstorms, deep mud, and swarms of mosquitoes!
Many people's experiences with destiny‘s quest are similar to our families' encounter that day. They sense that their lives are meant for something more; they’re drawn to the feeling of living an adventure and making a difference in the world. Excited but unprepared and unequipped, they charge into the wilderness only to become overwhelmed, discouraged, and disillusioned - deciding that settling for a good enough life is a better choice.
What I didn’t understand that day was that the same thing that would enable me to navigate the Adirondack wilderness successfully would also provide a way to fulfill my dream of moving to the mountains!
Any experienced hiker or guide can tell you there is no substitute for the right gear, knowledge, and skill. However, when deep in the wilderness, there is one thing that brings a sense of peace and comfort more than anything else. In the Adirondacks, they come in blues, yellows, and reds. When spotted, they tell us we’re on track—we’re still on the trail that leads to the summit! I’m talking, of course, about TRAIL MARKERS!
Getting Outfitted for The Quest - Learning to Recognize Destiny Trail Markers
1: Trail Marker's significance is found in their environment.
Imagine for a moment you were walking through the mall or strolling through a courtyard with shops and restaurants. If you encountered a trail marker in just about any environment other than a wilderness trail, it would have little or no significance. Quite possibly, you would walk right by without even noticing it!
When it comes to the journey of life, our lives are filled with markers or clues inviting us to remember and reclaim who we are and why we are alive. But just as random trail markers scattered about outside the forest do little to help us reach the summit, so are life trail markers outside of a consciousness of The Quest for Destiny!
2: Trail Marker's value is a result of their connection to the destination.
Trail markers themselves are made of simple material. Attempting to sell a trail marker for the market value of the material from which it is made will quickly prove this point. But for an exhausted hiker, having hiked rugged terrain all day, attempting to find their way out of the wilderness before dark, spotting that small marker on the tree is a treasure! A trail marker without connection to a trail is of little value. Its value lies in its ability to help us navigate through the unknown to a predetermined destination.
Because trail Markers of Destiny are so simple every day and appear to have little value, most of us miss them or recognize their significance. Their significance is realized only when they are connected to enabling us to remember and reclaim our destiny.
3: Trail markers are not the destination.
This seems pretty obvious when it comes to hiking. We would laugh at a hiker who, upon discovering a trail marker, would hug the marker with affection, set up a tent, build a campfire, and sit gazing at it in wonder! Yet, we often do this when it comes to Trail Markers of Destiny. We treat a trail marker as if it is intended to create a meaningful life of purpose rather than point us to one!
Recognizing Trail Markers in Your Life
“Our hearts naturally desire that which unlocks our unique design, empowers our dreams, and fulfills our destiny. If you have read my work, you know this statement has become my destiny mantra! Using the analogy of life as an expedition, this mantra becomes a trail guide or expedition map. Upon closer examination, we see that there are two main trails that we travel on. The first is Desire, and the second is Design. Each trail comes equipped with its own special, unique markers.
Desire trail markers are easy to recognize once we understand that each trail marker answers the simple question, “What makes me come alive inside?” In other words, every time we recognize an activity, experience, or situation in life in which we are aware of feeling alive, we have just discovered a trail marker on the journey of destiny!
Design Trail Markers are equally easy to recognize. Once we understand this type of Trail Marker answers the question, “ What problem am I uniquely crafted to solve”?
As we know, Trail Markers have little value or significance in themselves unless they are recognized in relation to their intended environment, association, and destination. Upon closer examination of the mantra, we recognize that these trail markers are pointing us to our dream and, ultimately, our destiny.
After 16 years of living in the Adirondacks, I have a few hikes under my belt. I have experienced firsthand the joy of those little markers on the trees pointing the way. But more importantly, I have learned to recognize them in my daily life, empowering my journey of self-discovery and destiny realization.
If you have been longing for more direction and clarity in your life, I have good news! Your life is a series of trail markers inviting you to remember and reclaim the reason you are alive! The key is being outfitted with the knowledge and skill needed to recognize and follow them!
Welcome to The Quest!
Love and Blessings, Wayne
Consider reading my other works: The Desire Paradox & The Design Paradox.
Thank you so much Wayne for sharing your journey which I relate so much to. I’m not so bad at getting the obvious ones, the big trail markers with the twinkling colorful lights around it stating « your dream’s this way » than the every day’s subtler ones. I’m definitely more of a Joan Wilder (Kathleen Turner’s character in « Romancing the Stone ») kind of life adventurer than a real experimented Indiana Jones, serendipity and luck, not to forget my devoted guides, have helped me a lot more lately than actually noticing the clues myself to achieve the quest but I’m getting there. So your way to read life maps does help me a lot to orient myself. Thank you again and, please, keep on writing, I still need your light to guide on my path. Lots of love.
This was really great, Wayne. A fun romp.