Trail Marker #11: What the Bubble Built
I have an image in my mind from when I was about ten years old, blowing bubble gum bubbles so large that they would burst all over my face.
Lately, that image has been helping me process the recovery bubble I have been living in for so long.
Tomorrow I go back to work full time, helping people with their financial lives. I can feel the pressure building on that recovery bubble, waiting for it to burst as life begins to return to more normal routines.
I believe we all experience bubbles in life.
There are seasons when our focus narrows and everything else fades into the background. Sometimes it is a project. Sometimes it is a retreat. Sometimes it is illness, recovery, or some other life event that takes center stage. Whatever creates the bubble, the common theme is focus.
Life inside the bubble is structured and, in some ways, protected. That does not mean it is easy. Often it is the opposite. Sometimes life inside the bubble pushes us outside our comfort zone and demands greater focus, greater patience, and fewer distractions.
And just like those gum bubbles I blew as a kid, there is often pressure building inside that space, whether we realize it or not.
Maybe growth is happening inside the bubble.
Maybe healing is happening there.
Maybe we are looking through it and imagining what life could be once we step out.
Whatever it is, the bubble does not last forever.
At some point, we know it will burst. Even when we know it is coming, we do not always know exactly when.
Well, my recovery bubble is about to burst.
For months I have been focused first on losing weight and controlling my diabetes so I could have surgery. Then came the surgeries, followed by physical therapy and the daily work of pushing through pain to create a better future.
I am not fully recovered, but I can feel the bubble expanding.
I still walk slowly, but my focus is no longer only on the next painful step. My thoughts are widening. My activity is expanding. My life is beginning to stretch outward again.
For me, that expansion means action.
In the next few weeks I will return to full time work. I will start planting the seeds for my summer garden, even while piles of snow still blanket the earth. I will begin actively planning my first hikes and continue building strength for a major hike in September to test these new knees.
What I feel most is gratitude for the time inside this recovery bubble and excitement for the opportunities waiting outside it.
Adventure feels like it is coming alive again.
I am holding on to the resilience and grit I have learned while living inside this bubble. Even though I am still months away from my first real test hike and years away from my Appalachian Trail adventure, I am choosing not to focus on the fear of change. I am choosing to focus on the joy of possibility.
We all have bubbles in life, and eventually they burst.
So here is the question I am sitting with now.
What did your bubble build in you?
What strengths did you develop there?
And how will you carry those lessons forward into what comes next?
If this resonates with you, I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments. And if you know someone else walking through their own season of focused growth, I hope you will share this with them.
🥾 Trail Notes
The bubble does not last forever, but what it builds in us can.
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