Walking Like Don

Val and I are walkers. We walk a lot. We walk around our neighborhood at home. We walk around new places to explore them. And we especially walk at the beach. “Want to go for a walk?” is a common question between us. Most days one of us asks the question and the answer is almost always “yes”. And we also always remember to walk like Don.

Don is a family friend who has a shore house in Avalon, NJ. And Don walks on the beach first thing in the morning every morning. And when there’s wind, Don starts by walking into the wind. He walks into the wind because it’s a bit harder than walking with the wind against his back. I suppose it’s the philosophy of doing the hard part first while you have the energy and motivation. And then having a bit of a push on the walk home. And so when Val and I walk, we walk like Don. We walk into the wind first.

But walking into the wind first is also a good analogy for life. Sometimes doing hard things suck. Even things that are good for us like taking a walk. Or learning and practicing something new. Or working on a challenging project. And sometimes it’s helpful to make the hard thing the first thing in your day or week. To get it done with. To feel a bit of accomplishment and get some energy for what’s next. And so I try to walk like Don, doing the hard thing at the start of my day and getting a bit of a win for the day ahead.

See you out there,

-Adam