The Narrow Path

Of all the paths and hills and streets I have ever run on, a section at Boyd Park remains one of the only places I would say is dangerous.

I would find myself faced with this path four times every year in high school, twice a race, when running the annual contests at Boyd. After running up over a short steep hill and crossing a paved road runners would come to three foot wide dirt path, with rocks embedded in it. Tall, thistley growth was waiting to scratch you up on the right and a five foot drop straight to a little river yawned open to the left.

Even on the best of days it was hard to keep your footing on the path and avoid the obstacles on either side of you, but when the rain was falling and 200 runners were trying to squeeze through the path all at once, getting along the path unscathed was something to be proud of.

So when I came to this slippery, slick path in a race in grade 10, right on the heels of another runnner, I was a little apprehensive, but I was confident that the path wouldn't get the best of me. Besides, I was more concerned with passing the runner in front of me.

As I reached the path I went to pass my fellow runner. As I made my move the other runner yelled. "I think there's only room for one," he said. I was shocked for a millisecond, and then spurred on by the guy's assurance that the path was too narrow for me to pass him. I did overtake him on the path, without falling or being torn to shreds of the thistles, and finished the race ahead of him.

That race was a lot like some monumental moments in people's lives. When reaching for a big goal or dream the path there is going to seem narrow, similar to that path at Boyd. And just like that actual path, the road to your dreams is going to have obstacles and there's always going to be a chance that you may slip, fall and hurt yourself on the way through, especially because others may be using that same path.

Getting to the end of that path may be hard, scary and dangerous and full of competitors, but once you emerge at the end, it will all be worth it, something to be truly proud of, as long as you don't hurt any of your fellow travelers along the way.

But there probably will be people who tell you that the path is too narrow, that you can't get through or that there isn't room for you on the path at all. There will be those that tell you the path is too dangerous to run on.

But don't listen to them. Don't let those people get you down, or tell you what you can and can't do, because with focus, determination and action you can do anything. Let your own dreams and your friends and family push you forward along that narrow path.

One narrow path may lead to another, but in the end the fact that you even started through on that path in the first place will be worth while, the journey and the scratches and bruises being stories and lessons. And when the narrow path ends and the finish line nears, you will not be able to hold that smile back.