On the first day of our northern Minnesota adventure last week, we decided to hike through a bog.

Anyone know what a bog is? I didn’t, and none of us had ever explored one before.

It sounded interesting – a landscape unlike a swamp or marsh, where plants decompose so slowly they actually create the ground beneath your feet.
As we wandered along the boardwalk above the bog, I realized I was exhausted. It was unusually hot and humid last week, and I was feeling… bogged down.

A minute later, I realized I was literally standing in a bog – and feeling bogged down(!)
(Later I learned that the phrase “bogged down” actually comes from moving through a bog.)

A little farther down the trail, we stopped for a drink of water.

Our pup, Oscar, drank first. He didn’t seem too worried about feeling bogged down.

He drank some water, took a break, and when he was ready… he kept walking.

I, on the other hand, was resisting it. I wanted to feel energized. I wanted to keep going, and wanted to get past feeling tired and bogged down.

Watching Oscar, I found myself wondering:

Maybe we spend too much energy trying to be somewhere we’re not.
It reminded me of something I’ve seen while coaching people through change: real transformation begins by meeting ourselves exactly where we are – not fighting it, not pretending, not trying to force what isn’t ready.

Not everything is asking to be fixed or forced. Some things are simply asking to be acknowledged.

As it turned out, I didn’t need to stop feeling bogged down that day.
I just needed to stop fighting the fact that I was.

Maybe feeling bogged down isn’t always a sign to stop…maybe it’s just a reminder to slow down.

And sometimes, once we do, we find we can keep going.