I’ve been receiving some of life’s lessons in rather humorous ways lately, little anecdotes that land like pearls of wisdom, impossible to ignore. This one still makes me laugh.

There’s a park near my apartment, one of the only green spaces I can run in. If I string two parks together, I can stretch my run to about 8km. The first time I ran the route, I found a little off-the-beaten-track trail through what looked like a swamp. It felt wild and raw, a welcome contrast to the concrete. I loved it.

On my second run through that path, I noticed a sign:

“What to do if you see wild animals.”

I chuckled. Wow, they’re cautious here.

Then I saw the second sign:

“What to do if you encounter a crocodile.”

…Not so funny anymore.

That was the last day I ran that trail.

A week later, I was running my new “safe” route, the one without crocodile warnings, and something happened. As I passed the entrance to the wild path, I physically couldn’t turn down it. Fear stopped me in my tracks.

But on the way back, I passed the same fork again. And this time, a clear message rose up in my body:

“The path you want to take, the one that feels more alive, more unknown, more you, is the one you need to take. Stop choosing safe. Go down the damn crocodile path.”

Loud and clear.

Message received.

It was one of those life metaphors that’s too perfect to miss.

The truth is, the path that calls to the wild inside you is rarely the manicured one.

It’s the one that asks you to risk something, comfort, certainty, control.

It’s the one that wakes you up.

And sometimes it even comes with crocodile warnings.

It’s rarely comfortable, but, maybe, it’s where the magic is.