Just Don’t Fall

Today was our 3rd day in Freiburg and we hiked in the Schwarzwald (Black Forest). We started our hike at a beautiful baroque Catholic church in St. Peter which was also once a monastery. The church was beautiful. White walls, with gold linings, and colorful images decorated the walls along with gold statues on the left and right sides of the church leading up to the main alter area where there was a large black gate decorated with gold as well and a large space behind it that was off limits to visitors. After the brief tour of the church, we began our stroll through the Schwarzwald… and by stroll I mean 8 (ish) mile hike . Words cannot describe how beautiful it was. Everything was so green, the trees were the biggest trees I’d ever seen in my life, and the mountain landscape in the background took my breath away – EVERY SINGLE TIME.

I guess this is the part where I get to why I titled this post “Just Don’t Fall.” There were multiple moments during the hike that I had to take a breath and tell myself this over and over again. There were some pretty steep hills and sometimes we’d be on a trail barely on the side of a very steep slope. For all of you that know me – this spells DISASTER. Not only do I struggle with my balance, but heights freak me out and I felt like I was about to plunge into the woods at any moment. However, that’s not the only reason this post is titled what it is.

In general, I can be a pretty positive person, but those who know me the best know I can be quite the complainer. It’s not something I try to do on purpose, but I have caught myself in a pity party more than once. So my motto for the rest of this trip became don’t fall. Don’t fall into old habits (especially the negative ones). It’s easy to find something to complain about and I had my fair share of “Oh my gosh, I can’t do this anymore” moments during the hike, especially when my feet were hurting and air was hard to come by. But there came a point where I stopped and told myself to look around. I was in FREAKING GERMANY. HIKING IN THE BLACK FOREST. What in the WORLD did I have to complain or be upset about? So what if I was sick or whatever other excuses I was putting in my head. It was that moment that I decided for every negative thought I had, I would find at least 3 other things to be happy about. Then it was a game… Oh, my feet hurt? Well at least it’s not raining, the air smells beautiful, and I haven’t fallen down (yet).