Sometimes I'm not good at making the best decision for me

(Chapter 18 Problem Solving and Making Decisions in my book)

Today I decided to take a walk because the weather was really nice so I went alone. I have a bad knee, due to a terrible fall at my job two years ago so I have a really difficult time walking on pavement, so I decided to take a drive to the local park. It has a kid's playground, fenced in dog park and lots of trails in the woods. I have been there lots of times alone, with my previous dog and with my boyfriend. Recently, we talked about how it probably wouldn't be a good choice for me to do this alone and I think that I agreed with him. Unfortunately, on this day, common sense didn't really play into my decision. I probably forgot all about this recent conversation with my boyfriend.

I started walking down one of the trails and I remembered that I had been on this trail before so it was very familiar to me. When I got to a place where this trail crossed another trail, I followed it and I saw the outside fencing of the dog park where I used to take my dog quite frequently. For a moment, I thought about turning around and going towards the front of the dog park fence because I knew the way out of the woods. I knew that I probably would be able to find my way back to my vehicle quite easily.

Instead, I decided to follow an unfamiliar trail and it went up, down and all around. I had no idea where I was and backtracking was just not an option because there were too many options. I would have no memory or any idea, which path I had previously been on. Soon I realized that I had made a terrible mistake! I knew that I had no choice but to figure it out, but I really didn't know how that was going to happen! I have little to no sense of direction and I live with a memory impairment, so some things are challenging for me to do.

I continued to follow different trails in the woods, without knowing where it was going to lead, but hoping it would take me back to a familiar place. After I was walking for a while and it seemed like the trails were taking me up and that didn't work well for my knee, I decided to work my way down. I knew that there was a river and I wanted to get closer to it, thinking it would help me to figure things out. After a while, I was able to find the river and I walked along it. Then I saw someone fishing on the other side and I was able to figure out where I was. I was familiar with the street that crossed over the water. I thought that if I could just find a way to get across the river, that would be much better than being in the woods, lost and it possibly turning dark soon. I continued to follow the river and I was able to find a dry spot. I walked on some rocks and dirt, then went under a guardrail and walked along the side of the road. I was so happy to finally be out of the woods! I knew where I was, so I followed this until the next street on the left because at the end of the street was the park and parking lot where my vehicle was parked. It took me awhile to get to my vehicle, but I was very happy that I was able to figure things out!

On the ride home, I thought a lot about this walk. I realized that this hadn't been a very good choice for me to make and in the future, I need to try to make sure that it doesn't happen again. I knew that if it did, it might not work out so well next time and I really shouldn't put myself in that kind of situation again!

I think that I remember talking to my boyfriend on the phone that evening, but I don't think that I told him about this walk. The next day, when I saw him and I told him. He said that he was glad that I was safe, but he didn't understand why I would do that.

I think that most of the time, I'm able to make good choices, but during this walk, for some reason, I didn't listen to that little voice that said, “perhaps you should go that way, since you know where you are.” This was an adventure that I really could have done without! I'm just so happy that I didn't get lost in the woods for a long time. I am so proud of myself for staying calm, thinking things through and finding a good solution. I think that my cognition prevented me from making the best decision which was to take a walk in the woods alone. I will definitely try to make sure that this doesn't happen again. I really need to think things through before I do something like this again, but I also know that can be challenging for me to do.