slowing down, on the right path

"droodles" takes a hike with me, lake cuyamaca

my friend droodles and i took a drive into the countryside the other day. along the way he explained that he had nearly choked to death on some carrots and celery on new year's eve. i ventured that he may have been eating to fast, and that perhaps the take-away message was to "simply slow down". about half way to our destination, we stopped to take a little walk. the hike was a pretty one, but made even more magical when we came upon a stone labyrinth in the middle of nowhere. it was a gift. we made a vow of silence as we mindfully followed the maze-like path into the center. when we arrived at the middle of the maze, droodles took a deep breath and said, "wow! it felt so nice to take my time getting to where i was going!". i agreed and added, "it's a gift to see and know where you want to be, but purposefully taking the long way around to get there". i think this is true of many things in life, but especially this nutritional path i am on. it is a slow path to learn about what to eat and how to eat. and though my progress is slow, knowing where i am going makes all the difference.