I took my boys hiking on Roosevelt Island yesterday. I have the bites and scratches to prove it. Hiking “on the trail” doesn’t even qualify as hiking for my kids anymore. It’s all about getting off the beaten path and blazing a trail. That’s when it gets exciting. That’s when it gets fun. And that’s when you discover new things. Yesterday we actually spotted some deer. And we found some bricks from the old George Mason mansion that used to occupy the island.

I couldn’t help but think that my boys approach to hiking is a great approach to life. It’s so much easier to stay on the trail. After all, it’s already been blazed. But it’s not nearly as exciting or fun. Sure, you’ll get some bites and scratches if you get off the beaten path. But nothing is as exciting as blazing a new trail.

In the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson: “Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”