I went on a hike down and up a mountain.  (The carpark was at the top...)
My daughter, Penne, was the healthiest and fittest of our group; and my grand-daughter, Tara, was only three.  My daughter-in-law, Kylie, has only one kneecap and can't bend one leg much.  Me - I was overweight and asthmatic. 

As we went on our journey, I couldn't help but equate it with passages through life.  Sections were pleasant and wonderful, sections were difficult and slippery, sections were easy and like a garden, where we enjoyed a playful exploration. 

Others kept passing us on the path because we were going so slowly, taking it carefully because of the handicaps of our group.  At the time, part of me was irked that we couldn't go faster but another part of me was really enjoying listening to the sounds of the forest 
and really taking the time to look at it, which you don't usually do when you go so fast. 

The other people were on their way to the waterfall, the big spectacular, and didn't really look at the beauty that was surrounding them.  We took care on the slippery paths and steps but many of those who passed us stumbled on tree roots, not really watching their step,  and one poor woman actually slipped and fell on a rock stair.  I really felt for her but, again, she was rushing and not being careful about her footing. 

We got a little lost on our hike but kept going.  We ended up missing the big spectacular
of  the waterfall altogether but, in doing so, we discovered a wonderful part of the forest 
that we would have missed and maybe never discovered at all if we'd only ever sought the waterfall.  Then, we found ourselves on a rarely beaten path that became rather perilous as it rose; but, with care and perseverance, and by trying to ignore the breezy drop beside us, we eventually made it to the top, 
after helping each other all along the way. 

I think life is like that. 
You could use all of the above as a metaphor, I think, 
of passage through life. 

In a way, we travelled our own Odyssey, however brief the hours.  And, if you were to take the people in my party as representatives of the varying aspects of ourselves, then you could say that just about anything is really possible, no matter what the handicap - as long as you persevere, take things cautiously, make sure of your footing, be willing to explore, and willing to take a calculated risk, and even to bluff your way through the perils that threaten your path. 

You can miss a lot skimming through the beauty of life on your way to the grand pinnacle (or waterfall) you want to see, and can even be hurt in the process if you don't make sure of the foundations beneath you.  And, sometimes, when you think you've lost your way,  you're actually discovering wonderful things about life and yourself that you never would have learned otherwise... and somehow, it all works out okay in the end.