I started my day at a conference in Phoenix. I have so much work to do, but my team and I have decided we need to take a little time away. We decided to stop for three hours and take a hike. If you travel for work, you know how hard this is…to take valuable time out of the process of meetings and conversations and presentations to look at where you are and just be there. I have been to most of the states in the U.S. But when I look back at each of those places, I mostly conjure up the image of the inside of a hotel room, or meeting space, or the hotel Starbucks. But this time, I am trying hard to take in the beautiful sunshine in the middle of winter.

We set out to hike a small trail on Camelback Mountain and were told to avoid a certain trail that was particularly difficult. Unfortunately and fortunately, we were dropped off at the wrong trail head. Extreme Difficulty. Well, ok guys, let’s see here. We all agreed that we would give it a shot…and turn around if we felt it was too hard. Well, being the overachievers that we all are, we pushed our way to the top, took in the views, and precariously walked back down. I am so proud of us for making it all that way.

As I sit in my afternoon meeting, I am so thankful we took the time out of our busy day, to enjoy our surroundings and each other. I encourage you to look around your surroundings and find all the ways you can take in the world. As I sit in another meeting room for the rest of the day, I am sure glad I did.