Of course hiking is healthy and good for you because it is great exercise. But beyond that there is something innately pleasurable about being outside on a nice day, and doubly so when out in the wilderness. It calms the troubled brow and breathes new life and vigor into our beings. Time seems to slow down, and we have a chance to think about the things that are really important to us.

"Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves." John Muir

Many of our battles and wars have been fought over religious beliefs. All the world’s religions have their sacred texts and their churches to help interpret them, but we still can’t agree as a whole on just what God is and what that should mean to us. The one book that is indisputably written by God, whoever or whatever God may be, is the book of Nature. And as the European mystic Paracelsus observed to read the book of Nature you must walk upon its leaves.

"I want to know how God created this world. I am not interested in this or that phenomenon. I want to know His thoughts, the rest are details." Albert Einstein

In our hectic, modern lives it is easy to get lost, to lose a sense of who we really are and why we are here. It is easy to get so busy doing so many things that we loose track of why we are doing them. How much of this being busy is a part of our real purpose in life?

Have you ever felt a general sense of dissatisfaction or an inner restlessness? Perhaps it is because you know you have the potential to be more. Perhaps you need a better understanding of the meaning of life to help you focus.

Clearly each of us is an individual with our own unique mix of skills, talents, and abilities. Our modern, mechanized way of life makes it easy to loose track of these. We all too easily become dependent on our material possessions to do almost everything for us including even our thinking and imagination. Each of us can make a difference in the world, but to do so we must first find our purpose in life.

From a spiritual point of view we are more than just our bodies and the electrical activity of our brains. The real essence of who we are lies within. Our bodies and our lives here are merely a means of expression for our true selves that will endure beyond this lifetime.

What gives meaning to our lives is our relationship with our inner selves, our creator, and others. We are each an instrument in the orchestra of life. We honor ourselves when we harmonize with others. To play in harmony we must learn what our part is supposed to be. Playing our part or fulfilling our purpose in life is a balance between looking within and expressing what we discover there through relationship and service to others.

Hiking can help us to tune our instrument. Hiking gives us a break from our ordinary routine and a chance to reconnect with the natural world and ourselves. Hiking can be a time to let your mind soar and contemplate the most difficult problems and abstract ideas. Hiking gives us a chance to leave our mechanized way of life behind for awhile at least and to begin reclaiming our soul's heritage.

While you are hiking and enjoying nature you may from time to time feel a presence that communicates with you through the natural beauty of your surroundings. That presence is your higher self or the deeper, more enduring part of you. Learn to listen to it. It often comes to us as a few moments of wonder while we are observing the magnificence of nature.

With this sense of wonder may also come an increased awareness of purpose not only in your life, but everywhere and in everything. You may discover that there truly is a season for all things. You will begin to feel that you too are a part of the natural flow of all life and all things. From this connectedness with all of nature new joy, delight, and energy will flow into you.