Adventure and the challenge it conjures up in our mind comes in a variety of shapes and sizes.
Recently, I was talking with Tim, the construction foreman for the contractor building our home in New Mexico.
We spoke of the bear and the cougar he had seen in the area. He told me of a meadow on the other side of the mountain behind our house and of the family of bears that the oldtimers said lived there.
He asked me if I had seen the cave near the top of the mesa? He said it was big enough to drive a truck into.
He had me hooked. I followed his directions and indeed could see a large cave near the top of the mountain, just below the mesa. I was mesmerized. Looking through binoculars, it appeared as if part of the cave had been walled up, meaning humans had used it. Tim thought it might be a mine. I was warned not to go alone as the cave may be the home to rattlesnakes, cougars or bears. Whatever this cave was, I had to see it up close and personal, but getting there was a problem.
The cave is situated at the top of a very steep mountain. And even if I could climb the mountain, it would be a difficult proposition to get to the cave itself. I wondered and thought about the best way to get there. I had become a child again, with all the romance and adventure of finding treasure and artifacts filling my thoughts.
As it turned out, the answer on getting to the cave came through a roundabout way. Every other Tuesday, several of us get together for a hike. It was decided a couple of weeks ago to climb the mountain behind our house. Three of us made it to the top while others turned back. At the top, we made the decision not to descend the same way we had come, since the trail was treacherous. As we hiked out in another direction, we came across an old dirt road. It was this road that provided the solution to getting to the cave. I kept track of where the road went, and a few days later, I drove back to the road. I followed it for several miles and then, through several trial and error hikes I found the general location of the cave. Now we would not have to climb up to the cave, we could hike down to it from above.
I returned to tell Tim, and yesterday we made the trek to the cave. We spent a couple of hours hiking to the vicinity of the cave and then descended the mountain in our effort to locate it. The going was difficult and several times the mountain gave way causing us to grab on to the nearest tree or bush to keep from tumbling many feet below. We knew we had no cell phone reception in the area and it would take a very long time to get to medical help should we become injured. With great care and persistence, we approached and finally reached our goal.
What we thought was a cave turned out not to be a cave at all. Rock had crumbled and fallen leaving an overhang above. This gave the illusion of a cave from below.
Although this adventure did not turn out the way we thought it might, we were thrilled that we had reached our goal. We now could stop wondering what the cave was like as we looked at it from below. It was a fine day.
I could not help but think that this was very much like my walk with alcoholism. Once I had made the decision to stop drinking, I looked at my path. Although it was unclear at the time, I was given Twelve Steps to reach my goal. The trip I had planned for myself to become sober did not materialize in the way I thought it would. Many twists and turns have come, but the Twelve Steps are still leading my way. Sobriety is not what I thought it would be, it is many times better and the adventure is new and exciting.
The adventure of life is ours for the taking.
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