It’s always there, but never noticed.

  This simple and familiar anomaly is nature.

  Yes, I love nature but I don’t sit in trees and protest in my spare time. I’ve just been fortunate enough to be able to have experiences that have shown me how nature can push me to my limits. I have conquered my fear of heights by jumping off a cliff into the freezing waters ofLake Superiorand I have persevered through an eight day backcountry camping trip with a broken ankle.

   I have been able to take the time to reflect on myself while carrying a canoe blistering into my shoulders in the middle of a muddy forest, and I can remember thinking to myself that I did not want to be anywhere else on Earth at that moment.

   Nature has made a lasting impact on my life, yet I come home everyday and barely notice the beauty around me. Most days I am only outside when I am hurriedly walking from my car to school and back. In the summer I overheat and wish it was colder, but when the snow comes I wish it could be summer again. Why can’t I just appreciate mother nature?

  When I stop to think about it, I realize how lucky we are to be immersed in all four seasons inMichigan. When my cousins fromArizonacome toMichiganduring the winter, they are fascinated by the snow but are unable to step outside without putting on a parka.

     I have watched both friends and family members get so wrapped up in technology and work that they stop taking time to smell the roses. But as technology continues to be improved and money is the ultimate goal for many people, we are diminishing true beauty and ruining any chance we have of appreciating our surroundings, by cutting down trees and increasing our use of nature for production.

  With my high score of 4,956,352 on the game Temple Run, I understand how easy it is to get lost in digitally animated games or how fast time flies by when I’m sitting on Facebook stalking teachers. But the constant phenomenon of a sunset should trump a cool explorer running away from ninja monkeys or the pictures that are being posted on Facebook from this past weekend.

  Next time I am about to angrily tweet or start to playTempleRunin order to procrastinate, my new solution is to look out the window or take a walk to my mailbox. Although the weather man has predicted one of the roughest winters thatMichiganhas had in the past seven years, I will appreciate when the bare branches of trees are engulfed in ice and look like glass and be reminded that there is always a constant in my life. Nature.

Written by: lsheperd on January 4, 2012.