One of the very best days last month was spent hiking in the Lake District, even if it didn't go quite as planned.  Maybe, because it didn't go quite as planned. Our best trips usually deviate pretty widely from the intended course.  We walk our way through the different parts of the world to which we travel. Usually, when we read the guides, we choose the longer more challenging more scenic routes listed. This day was no exception. The first portion of the hike was very easy and well marked, a typical sight-seeing pedestrian path. We found the extension trail connecting to this one and began our climb. Up. And upandupandup.

We've done this before and fortunately our kids are part mountain goat and never complain. At some point the well marked trail became less well marked. The guide mentioned that might happen so we pressed on.  And up.  The view from the top was incredible which was good because there were moments I thought it might be the last thing I saw before I died.  ; )

We ate lunch at the top.  At that point we just gave up the trail and followed the creek back down.  We saw a meadow of cotton grass though we didn't realize what it was until we could check the internet. We met a lone sheep. We watched a helicopter rise from the valley below and eventually fly right past us.  

We were so proud of those littles for their gusto and good humor we stopped at a cafe and got ice cream after. 

It was a phenomenal day. I was thinking about that after we got back home. It was simply a PHENOMENAL day.  But, I realize some people wouldn't have seen it that way.  I guess another way of looking at it was we got lost, we had a killer climb, the creekbed turned out to be a bog – which we also didn't figure out til we got to the internet ; D  We tied the little dogs to the outdoor tables while we sat and had ice cream.  Littlest dog's lead loosened up and he happily jogged through the restaurant with my husband chasing after.  We are still laughing over that one, but I realize not everyone would be laughing.  

So, you can decide if this is a charmed life.   Maybe the point is that you can decide if your life is charmed or not.  My dear friend's signature box says it this way:

"An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered; an adventure is
an inconvenience rightly considered."

– G.K. Chesterton

The choice is yours.  It is a happy woman who takes that counsel to heart and discovers that, instead of one trial after another, her life is never boring.  No two days are quite the same. No, instead of the monotony of complete control and predictability she is blessed with a life full of adventure. 

If you want to see the world from that vantage point, you have to push through the climb.