When Appreciation Looks Back

Sometimes the most beautiful part of being in nature is remembering we're not the only ones doing the noticing. That little question stayed with me long after the hike was over. Visit www.ThankU.io for the full story. #ThankUio #Appreciation #SantaCruzMountains

Most of us think appreciation is something we do. We notice a bird, a flower, a squirrel. But standing quietly beneath the trees this week, I found myself asking a different question. What if, for just a moment, she noticed me too?

One of my favorite trails winds quietly through the Santa Cruz Mountains. I've hiked Indian Rock Trail in Sanborn Skyline Park hundreds of times. Maybe even a thousand if I count all the years my corgis, Toby and Piper, trotted beside me.

It isn't the grandest trail. It doesn't have sweeping ocean views or dramatic waterfalls. In fact, one of the reasons I love it is because it's gentle. The path rises and falls so gradually that it almost feels like gliding.

Most mornings it's just my little dog, Ghost, and me, wandering our favorite trails.

People sometimes ask if I ever get tired of hiking the same trails over and over.  Actually, the opposite has happened.  The more often I walk it, the more there is to discover.

Lately, I've been thinking less about gratitude as something we feel and more about appreciation as something we practice. Appreciation begins long before we say "thank you." It begins by paying attention.

On this particular morning I wasn't looking for anything special. I was simply walking.

Then something tiny caught my eye.  Buried inside an ordinary green manzanita bush, along a trail lined with hundreds of them, was one brilliant little cluster of crimson leaves.  Every other bush and branch around it was happily wearing its summer green, but this one little sprig seemed to have decided that autumn simply couldn't arrive soon enough.

It made me laugh.

Someone couldn't wait for autumn.

The whole mountain was enjoying August, and there was one eager little branch already celebrating October!

I probably would have walked right past it a few years ago.

A little farther along the trail I looked up into the trees and spotted a squirrel balanced on a branch.  Normally, they vanish the instant they notice me.  This one didn't.  She simply stayed where she was while I stopped, reached for my phone, switched it to camera mode, and quietly took her picture.  I took my time.  She patiently waited.

As I walked away I found myself smiling.  I wonder if she noticed me too?  Maybe not.  But I love that the question even occurred to me.

Toward the end of the hike I came upon one of my favorite unofficial benches. It isn't a park bench. Someone simply built it years ago beneath a beautiful old tree. I've walked past it countless times.

This morning, after stopping for tiny discoveries and looking up into the trees, it felt as though the trail had one more gift waiting.

And just when I needed a rest...  There it was.

None of these moments would make the evening news. No one else may ever notice that little red branch. The squirrel may never sit there again. The bench will probably look exactly the same tomorrow. But together they reminded me of something I've been practicing.

Life isn't always asking us to search harder. Sometimes it's simply inviting us to notice better.

I'm discovering that's what appreciation really is. It begins long before we ever say, "thank you." It begins with paying attention.

This is what my daily practice is becoming...

An appreciation practice.

• Pay attention with love. • Find the good. • Say it out loud. • Trust the gift.

So, if you have a few quiet minutes this week, come walk with me. Let's see what discovers us.