Now that the weather has consistently warmed up here in metropolitan Atlanta, I find myself back out on the path or trail most every day. I’ve always enjoyed walking. I walked to elementary school in the mornings and walked home in the afternoons. No, it wasn’t uphill both ways – wait a minute, yes it was. There were major hills I had to traverse both ways, every day. As I have gotten older I have come to appreciate the park, whether it be a little city park, a county park, a state park or a national park. As long as there is a trail, be it paved, dirt, or just a beat down place in the leaves, I want to see where it goes. I even took time out last year for two back-country camping trips, a first for me.

I always make myself ‘available’ for everyone I meet out on the trail. By that I mean I make eye contact and am ready for a nod or “Hi!” or even a “Isn’t it a GREAT day to be out walking?” What I have come to notice is there are two types of people I meet on the trail. The first type are those like me. It’s almost a race to see who will acknowledge the other first, whether it be just a nod, a “Hi!” or even a “Isn’t it a GREAT day to be out walking!” Usually, the interaction is nothing more than that, a recognition that two souls are enjoying the same benefits of being out in nature at the same time. Sometimes we stop and converse as if we’ve known each other for a lifetime. Who’s to know we haven’t? The other group of people I meet on the trail are those that do everything within their power NOT to make eye contact with me. They are wrapped up in their own world, either oblivious to what is happening around them or intentionally shutting it out.

What I have noticed about the first type of people: they are almost always smiling. They are cognizant of their senses, the smells in the are, the breeze on their skin, the birds chirping, and especially seeing me, another human on a similar journey. Conversely, the unifying trait of the second group of people is their lack of smiles, often displaying what could best be described as a scowl. Sometimes it’s difficult to refrain from interacting with them, to try and force them out of their comfort zone, but that’s not my style. As I said, I make myself available, not in their face. But I have to wonder, with our inherent need for human interaction, being outside experiencing nature, and putting yourself in a public environment in the first place, why not take advantage of the opportunity to look at a perfect stranger and give a nod, or quip a “Hi!” or really go all out and exclaim “Isn’t it a GREAT day to be out walking?”

Now, I understand there are those that take walks to get away from the everyday, to get inside themselves, to process. It just seems to me that maybe the easiest way to escape, to get inside yourself, to process, is to get a little happier. What better way than to acknowledge another’s existence just as they acknowledge yours, to wonder what problems they are dealing with that overshadows anything you could imagine, or to just basque in the good vibrations and positive energy they are giving off. If you see me out on the trail, a path, or even a beaten down place in the leaves, make eye contact back with me, give me a nod, mouth a “Hi!” to me, or truly make my day and as well yours by revealing “Isn’t it a GREAT day to be out walking?”