On my hike in the snow yesterday in Wisconsin, I found myself thinking about how the unknown people who had hiked the trail before me had made it easier for my own journey. Isn’t it like that? How people before us have broken trail and showed us the way? They may have never begun their journey with the intention of breaking trail for us, but it turns out they made our way easier anyway. All they did was put one foot in front of another. We may have never chanced to meet them on the trail. Or, they might be people we met along the way. It really doesn’t matter.

They blazed the trail which made it easier for me to find my way.

Because hiking provides ample time for thinking and I had nearly nine miles of thinking to do, I found myself reviewing my sixty years. How have I made things easier for others who follow me? What difference is it making? How could I dedicate my life in even higher service to those hiking down the trail behind me?

It would be easy to coast at this stage in life. To “let it go” or claim I have “arrived.” But then what? How would that leave the world better? What kind of example would it set when there is an urgent need for us to address environmental issues across our planet and I know something about how to mobilize for change?

And what about walking the talk? How could I, someone who has dedicated her life to standing up on what matters now sit back and leave it to others?

That’s when my compass pointed true north. That’s when I found my rhythm on the trail.

In our world today, there are ample opportunities to make a positive difference. Our strides can make it easier for others to make strides of their own. We don’t need to have all the answers. We don’t need to carry the world’s burdens in our backpack. We just need to call ourselves to the task of putting one foot in front of the other. It’s about marching forward and showing others the way.

Come. There is trail to break for others.

—Patty Dreier, Author, Empowered: One Planet at a Time