Close to Lake St. Peter in Hastings County, there’s a hiking trail leading to a beautiful lookout. It is not a long trail (about 2.5 km), but it is described as “strenuous,” crossing “rugged terrain.”

The first day, my 11-year-old daughter and I didn’t even make it halfway.

The next day, I said, “Let’s try the hike again.”

“Dad, no! It’s uphill the entire hike! I don’t want to go hiking.”

I put out my hand, palm up. “Put your finger on my palm. Now move up.” My daughter puts her finger gently on my palm and then raises her finger in the air.

“Now, if you had to get back to my hand, which way would you go? See, it’s impossible to keep going up. It can’t be uphill the whole way. I think if we can make it to the halfway point of the hike, the rest will be easy.”

I convinced her.

That day, we completed the hike. It was strenuous for her, but we experienced the beautiful lookout at the halfway point. And, sure enough, the second half was downhill.

In life, you need to cross rugged terrain sometimes. It can be hard. But you need to go at least halfway to find beauty. And you never know, it may be all downhill from there.