The Road There

Although my initial reasons for ending up in Vancouver were trivial, the experience I left with was quite substantial. As I stepped outside into the cool air and felt the soft pounding of the rain on my umbrella, I saw them for the first time. Looming in the distance cast against a shadowy sky stood a row of mountainous peaks. Coming from the flat inlands of Ontario the beauty of the mountains was not something I had previously experienced. As my eyes drifted towards the top, I instantly knew exactly where I wanted to be.
As I stared out my hotel window, I took in the beauty of the mountainous silhouettes outlined by the early morning light of the rising sun. They were so close, but yet still so distant. As the day wore on and I travelled closer, they loomed above like giants standing over me. As I walked up the path my view was blocked by the waving branches of the trees. The sweat dripping off my brow and the panting of my breath marked the steep incline to the top. A wave of elation moved over me when I realized I was finally there. Stepping out of the shadows of the trees that had blocked my view for so much of the journey I looked out into the open.
My lungs gasped for air as the beauty stole my breath for a moment. Above the shimmering waters below an assortment of peaks stood out against the background. Each one beautiful in its own unique way. Instantly I was filled with the urge to visit each one; to climb their paths to the peaks to enjoy their beauty. But as I turned around to look at the path I had just climbed I realized I was at the peak. From a distance I had admired this sight, as I was now admiring many others. No sooner had I obtained it did I pine for something more, for another adventure, for another sight of beauty.
Staring at the path I had taken, looking at the trees that surrounded it I took a deep breath. What I had considered to be blocking my view before, I now realized that it was the view. The beauty of the forest up close does not paint a mural, as it does in the distance. Each tree, each branch, each leaf paints its own picture and tells its own story. Natural beauty is not something you simply find, it is something you experience. The beauty of nature is something you live. And atop that mountain I saw true natural beauty both in the distance, but all around me as well. It is there on that day that I will never forget that I learned it is important to yearn for something more, but not to sacrifice what you have around you.