Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Give pain its due; be careful of the unrealistic demands you make on yourself; try to figure
out what largely makes you happy and how you can make shifts towards that happiness.
A neat formula - it's not always quite so simple to achieve in everyday life, and I had to
be gentle with myself as I waited at the inn for the driver and the diversion of the day's
events. There were picnic tables outdoors and I settled myself there, watching the comings
and goings as deliveries were made, cleaners arrived and passers by stopped for a rest. I
was harassed, now and then, by the sly sheep that seemed to be eyeing up my packed lunch.
As the van drove up, comedy broke in, that savior that prevents us from taking ourselves
too seriously and puts things in unabashed perspective. The driver was having the most
awful of days. His van was weighted to the axles with luggage, as this was peak Coast to
Coast season. His lists were all wrong. We toured farmsteads, unloaded mountains of bags
to find the right ones, and were dumbstruck at the new mountain ranges of luggage to be
added to the pile. Landlords told us they had no reservations for the people whose luggage
we had just dropped off. Beads of perspiration poured from the driver's brow as the sun
beat down on him. As we drove along, we asked groups of hikers their names, in case we
had their luggage in our van. We never found the mystery hiker by the name of Smith-Hor-
ton, but we discovered that every third hiker on this section was named Smith. There was
even one in our party. Inevitably, I began to smile and then to chuckle. So, I had had to ride
the van for a day. It was just part of the rich weaving of life, where fortune and misfortune
are interlaced. I was not a lesser person for it; it was not inevitable that I would meet only
rejection and failure in my life. Most likely, I would have my share of both, and if there was
a silver satin lining to this weaving, this tablecloth, I may, in future, relish the joys more
and deal better with the difficulties with the help of my many good friends. Tomorrow was
another day, the last on the Coast to Coast and I determined I would walk again with re-
newed vigor.
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