The Wild

It is Monday morning, and I am just about to begin the next phase of a three month training program. The work has been intense (especially for an old guy like me), and my nerves are stretched taut. In order to reduce the jitters I have elected to cut out coffee this morning in favor of a less potent green tea.

I take a gentle sip from the hot mug. It is slightly bitter, but the warmth feels good. The hint jasmine is an afterthought that slowly blossoms into my senses, unlocking a long lost memory.

My vision clouds as I am transported to a scene from so many years ago;

I am sitting alone in the courtyard of a travelers guest house. It is the hour before dawn, and the city is quiet. I gently lift a steaming mug to my mouth, and taste jasmine tea for the first time. I marvel at my situation, and the impossible serries of events that have led me to this place, at this time. It is peaceful as the city sleeps, and I wonder at the fact that this single city houses almost as many people as are found in the entire country of Canada.

I sip at the tea again, enjoying the warmth. The air feels heavy and still, as if all of existence is holding its breath in anticipation of the coming dawn. A songbird warbles as the first rays of sunlight brighten the sky over Beijing, and I think that I will remember this moment for the rest of my life.

With the vision comes a flood of memories. This is my first backpacking trip, and I am little more than a naive kid from small town Canada. There are few places on earth that could have been more different and foreign to me, and that is why I chose China. It was a statement, and it was a test. I have always been partial to the phrase sink or swim, and this time I was in way over my head.

As the memories recede I consider the parallels between that time in China, and the situation I have put myself in all these years later. I realize that I am doing it again. Its a different challenge and the goals are different, but here I am, still pushing myself to do more, to be more.

The memory comforts and energizes me. I realize again that every new undertaking is an adventure, and that every adventure is an opportunity to grow. What is life if not a serries of experiences that allow us to change, evolve and move closer to the ideal version of who we are meant to me.

As a great American poet once said: “No eternal reward will forgive us now for wasting the dawn.”

I smile to myself. As i write these final sentences the sun has sunk from sight, and only a slight glow now lights the western horizon. Outside my patio a bird sings its night song, bidding farewell to another day.

See you in the morning my friends, and as always, stay Wild!