Corn stalks and pumpkins: a picture of fall

Jerele and I recently returned from visiting my brother Frank and his family in Michigan. What fun! On Saturday Frank, his wife Sheri, and daughters Ashlie and Amanda took Jerele and me to walk our first corn maze. If you have never seen a corn maze, they look as if they go on forever. Acres of tall, dry corn stalks, growing in rows thick to each other, have been zigzagged with cutout swaths that make paths for people to get lost on!

The family heads off into the corn maze

In this particular corn maze, there were twelve stations where we had to pick up a clue in order to win a prize at the end. Of course, the biggest prize was just finding our way through the maze so that we could come out the other end. We went back and forth on the same paths at times before we realized we were going around in circles. Amanda and Ashlie climbed on their dad’s shoulders when we were in dire circumstances to see if they could find our way. We used our intuition, sense of direction, and multiple guesses; and when those didn’t work, we held a family conference to try to determine whether or not we had been down this path before or we hadn’t.

Mid-way through this challenge, rain began to fall. Now, not only did we twist and turn in the maze but we slipped and slid in the maze, as well. We finally found eleven of the twelve stations and picked up our clues. With the rain falling even heavier, most of us agreed that we would forfeit the prize at the end and find our way out without locating the twelfth station.

	Evan an ear of dry corn is beautiful

But the youngest among us, 14-year-old Ashlie, showed determination and perseverance the rest of us had not been able to muster. “We can’t quit now,” she told us. “We’ve got to find the final clue.” So with her commitment and leadership, we kept trying this path and then that one until finally we located the last station. Wet but pleased with ourselves, we finally found our way out of the maze.

lizabeth with nieces Ashlie and Amanda after successfully completing the corn maze

Walking a corn maze was a first for Jerele and me. How great to have a brand-new experience! Researchers even say that doing something different and new presents a sense of novelty to our brains that is one of the components of contentment and happiness. Our experience would have proved these researchers right on this particular Saturday. We had so much fun; and a big part of the fun was that we were doing something completely new during which we got to be total beginners.

Have a wonderful November. Perhaps you will do something new and different this month, too. If so, why not send an email telling me about your experience?

Dr. Elizabeth Harper Neeld offers wisdom and practical insights to anyone whose life is in a time of transition, change, grief and loss of any kind. As an internationally recognized and accomplished consultant, and author of more than twenty books - including Tough Transitions and Seven Choices: Finding Daylight After Loss Shatters Your World - she is committed to work that helps lift the human spirit.