Adulthood... feels a lot like trying to run up a gravel covered hill — have you ever tried to do just that? The faster you try to ascend, the quicker your feet slip out from under you. Small slips are inevitable, but to remain upright, the steep slope and unsteady rock force intentionality behind your steps to move forward. It is a tall hill, of which you’ve scraped your knees on plenty as a kid. But in an aging body learned from these cuts and bruises, giving in to the cumbersome landscape’s power over you is the only steady way to make progress. But maybe... just maybe I’ve been looking down at my feet trying not to slip for so long now that I’ve forgotten to look up.. at those walking beside me.. at the beauty around me.. at how far I’ve come.. Maybe it’s time to remember that intentionality is not the same thing as control.. and there are too many factors at play and too much gravel on this hill so that I don’t really have any control over my falling at all. If my slips and falls over time are inevitable.. maybe it’s time I pick my head up and enjoy a few more views and company along the way... it’s lonely at the top anyways.