Waiting for the Next Person to Notice

Someone scratched two little hearts into the moss on a rock beside the trail. I don't know who left them or why. I only know that one day I walked by, noticed them, and received a tiny gift intended for no one in particular.

I have walked past thousands of rocks on thousands of hikes. Most of them remain simply rocks. But one day I came upon this moss-covered boulder and noticed two symbols - heart and peace - scratched into the green. I don't know who made them, when they made them or whether they were meant for someone in particular. I only know that they were still there when I came along, waiting for the next person to notice. Waiting for me. Thank you kind stranger.

I spend a lot of time walking. Sometimes I hike because I want exercise. Sometimes I need quiet. Sometimes I simply need to get out of my own head and onto a trail. There’s a huge release when my feet step on the dirt. My head clears and my soul sighs. And, somewhere along the way, something else began happening. I started noticing what was waiting for me!

Recently I found two symbols – a heart and a peace sign - scratched into the moss covering a rock. Someone had stood in that same place before me and left behind a little love. I don't know who made the hearts, when they made them or why. Maybe they were intended for someone special. Maybe someone simply felt like leaving a couple of hearts in the woods. Whatever their story, I came along later, saw them and smiled. A gift doesn't necessarily have to be intended for you to receive it.  And what fun to see the ThankU.io logo, although deconstructed, right there in the moss – peace, love and joy.

On another walk, I found a little cairn. Someone had stopped, gathered a few rocks and carefully balanced them. Again, I stopped. Who made it? A child? Another hiker? Someone resting for a few minutes who began stacking rocks? I'll never know. But for a moment I felt connected to someone I will probably never meet. They had been here. Now I was here. We had shared the same little place on the mountain at different moments in time.

Then the forest got into the act. Growing from the side of an old moss-covered tree was a strange, beautiful burst of peach and orange.  A beautiful “Chicken of the Woods” fungus growing from an old tree.   This time there was no unknown person behind the gift. Nobody had arranged it or intended for anyone to find it. Nature had simply done what nature does, and I happened to walk by at the right moment and notice.

For years, ThankU.io has been an exercise in gratitude, but somewhere along the way I learned that gratitude and attention are inseparable. I can't appreciate something I never notice. And the more I notice, the more there seems to be.

Some gifts are left by people. Some are made by nature. Most are small enough to walk right past. Symbols etched in moss. A stack of rocks. Something unexpected growing from an old tree. None of them is life-changing. But together, they are life-filling, tiny moments of delight that accumulate while we're busy waiting for the big moments to arrive.

Thich Nhat Hanh wrote, “Walk as if you are kissing the earth with your feet.” I love that. It reminds me that walking doesn't always have to be about getting somewhere. Sometimes the whole purpose is to be exactly where my feet are, to look down, look around and pay attention to what is waiting there.

And perhaps that's where the gratitude is. The world doesn't have to know it's giving me a gift. I just have to notice that I've received one.

Find the Good and Say it Out Loud.