Take the High Road

“What was that all about?”  Do you ever ask yourself or God that question?  I recently took a “Someday” sanity break on a beautiful fall afternoon at Mount Yonah, located between the towns of Helen and Cleveland, Georgia.  Yonah is the Cherokee word for bear.  While I didn’t see any bears, it was a new trail, which meant new experiences.  And although it was not during peak leaf season, it was still an inspiring ascent of about 1500 feet.

The 5^th Ranger Training Battalion conducts the mountain phase of their Ranger School on Yonah Mountain.  It is also popular with local rock climbers because of the visible sheer granite cliffs near the summit, which give the mountain its distinctive appearance.

About an hour into the hike, I came to some rest rooms and a sign advising of a phone number to call in order to avoid “conflict” with the US Army training in the climbing area during periods of their military training.  From that point, I continued my upward ascent to the summit.  After a while I came to a “fork in the road.”  And you know what that great philosopher and baseball player Yogi Berra said, “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.”  There were two paths.  The one to the left looked steeper, and was apparently the one most people took.  The “right” path looked like a gift to my legs which were beginning to get a bit weary (after two months of no training following my Colorado adventure), and I am usually drawn to the road less taken.

So, I had a choice.  I could take a harder, steeper route or I could take what appeared to be a more level path with immediate vistas.  I was a little tired by that point, so I chose the easier path with the promise of more immediate gratification.  It started out as a pleasant, narrow path with a sweeping view of the valley below and the mountains in the distance.  But as I progressed down the path, I came to rather steep exposures.  I now knew why this was the road less taken.

At that point, I, again, had two choices.  I could backtrack and return to my “fork in the road” or I could scramble up these rather sheer granite outcropping.  What do you think I did?  Oh, did I mention good portions of the rock had water seeping out of it, making it slippery?  No ropes, no partner to belay, but no way was I turning back!  It would be like admitting I had been wrong.  My sanctified stubbornness/persevering nature has adopted the credo of the legendary Georgia legislator, Denmark Groover, “Sometime wrong, but never in doubt.”  I slowly began to carefully scale the rock face.  I found cervices and ledges and eventually make it to the path I had previously passed over.  For future reference, I decided I would choose to take the steeper, safer path next time.

A I reflected on this experience the next morning, I asked the question, “What was that all about?”  The immediate answer was “take the high road.”  “Take the high road” is an American idiom which means to choose the most noble, ethical or diplomatic course of action, especially in the face of negativity or ill treatment.  Always take the high road.  High roads, by their nature, tend to be harder – at least initially. But the high road provides protection.  It protects our reputation, our integrity, our spirits, and sometimes…even our physical bodies.  When faced with options/choices always take the high road.

Life is full of lessons, if we will but ask the right questions and then listen for the answers. What hard, high road do you need to take today?

Ben Franklin once said, “Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.”  I say, do something worth writing and then write about it.  Live a great story, and, then, tell the story.  Who knows, you might just inspire someone right into an epic adventure!