There's no third wheel in hiking!

Garibaldi Lake 18 km hike (add Taylor Meadows 4 extra km)

Have you ever felt like a third wheel? It seems lately this feeling is all around me. On vacations that are no more, my Dragon Boating besties and at work. I just can't shake it. It's all over me like a swarming bunch of blood thirsty mosquitoes. It's not my imagination...I would like to think I am fun to be with but my guess is not in three's. I don't think anyone does it purposely, it's just for whatever reason they have made a connection that is better or stronger for travel, work, hanging  out, then my connection. I'm sure I am not the only one in the world that is going through this and I'm not sure how to fix it. What I know is, it is indeed a painful situation.

That is just one more reason why I love hiking. If you go on a hike with a large group you can visit with many people as some stride ahead and others fall behind. Everyone gets your time and you don't have to feel like you need to entertain everyone and no~one has to ever feel left out.  If you go in three's, it also works. Sometimes you walk & talk while other times you are in the comfort of the beauty that surrounds you.

To me, life is way too short. I want everyone to feel included. Exclusion is no fun! Being a person who is employed as an Education Assistant. My job is making kids feel included, it's kinda weird in my life, I am not. At least this past year, in many cases, too many to ignore, I have excluded. Call it mental pause, over sensitive or just how it is?  I'm not trying to blog a sob story but just to say it is out there and I wish it wasn't. I wish I could write it away.  I have said this before out loud and hopefully saying it again someone may hear me...We never know when our time to leave this earth is...so I say spend time with everyone, together. Don't think it's your job to be the entertainer of all the people in the group. Three people can hang out together at the same time. Lets make the third wheel, no more! 


Lori Pederson

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