Watermelon at the End

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On a tip from another avid hiker, I adopted a new hiking practice. In the car, I pack along a fresh, cold watermelon in a cooler that we save until the end. After a particularly gruelling hike, most hikers have very little to look forward to. When you reach the peak of the mountain, you are only halfway there, and most hikers look pretty bedraggled when they return to their vehicles.

Psychologically, this packs a lot of power. We are accustomed to taking snacks and refreshment along the way which we consume for strength or on breaks or to rejuvenate as we get tired. However, when the trail is long and dusty, there is also a watermelon waiting our arrival back at the car. Imagine how your mouth screams out with joy at its juicy sweet refreshment after a long trek and how this treat awakens the dry of your spirit with a jolt of thirst-quenching goodness! Imagine the other hikers who see you, themselves just starting out on the trek, how they look at you lustily devouring this dripping fruit and asking themselves why they lacked foresight to do the same.

Having something good waiting for you at the end gives you strength and motivation to push forward. On my hike this weekend, I was already tired and kind of sore by the time we reached the halfway mark. I rolled an ankle, and it was slightly painful until this morning truth be told, but I knew there was something good waiting for me when we finished our trek.

Most of our hope and most of our faith lies in the belief we have that there is a watermelon at the end of life's hike. After a tiresome, burdensome, grueling journey that takes much out of us, we press forward anyway looking forward to some enjoyable refreshment at the end of our travails. It's why this weekend people joked of pots of gold at the end of the rainbow, because we hope that if we go the distance there will be something good at the end. As we incentivize difficult portions of our lives, the ups and downs, the tears and sprains, the sweating and weariness become easier to bear because we know there is a watermelon at the end.

**Permission granted to do this when you go hiking. If you find hikers who don't have one, feel free to share it with them too.**