Have you ever been lost? I mean REALLY lost. The kind of lost where that helpless feeling starts to overwhelm you and thoughts begin to run through your mind, “will I get out of here” or “will someone eventually find me”?
I had a taste of this feeling when I was hiking in North Georgia. The hike began to get longer than I had anticipated and the paper map was not matching the GPS coordinates on the “Map My Hike” phone app. I knew the sun would be disappearing soon as well as the battery on my phone. I began to contemplate scrapping the “Map My Hike” app as it was draining my battery because what if I got to the point where I needed to call 9-1-1? But, surely having this app track my steps via satellite was going to help. Decisions.
I had my dog with me and she was getting tired. At some point I knew I would have to carry my 20 pound little girl. As I knelt to get water out of my backpack for both of us I looked down and saw a footprint. This was definitely NOT a large raccoon and I knew there was no way a great dane was in the woods. So I concluded that it was indeed a bear paw-print … or should I say CLAW print. So fresh it was that I actually moved my head slowly around to see if this bear was staring at me already licking its chops.
NOW it was “game on” and I had to get my dog and I out of there! Nothing against my dog as she is my best friend, but…if I could have had anything at that moment it would be another human being. There is strength found when human spirits are united in passion and purpose. More minds thinking and more hearts acting are better than one. We are stronger together.
Being a coach I immediately relate things to sports. Although not a life or death situation by any means, the athletic field is an environment where we experience this bond between human spirits. There is a synergy created when teammates commit together with purpose and passion to go after their dreams. So much can be accomplished when you are not alone.
