Isn't that how life is? We want to stop, rest, quit, or digress, Instead, that little voice keeps saying, "Push on." That means to stop dwelling on how long, how far, and how hard but to just put one foot in front of the other.
In Absolutely American: Four Years at West Point, David Lipsky said,
I came to love, really love, road marching. It's called a suck or a haze at West Point, but I think the cadets aren't being fair to it. There's something wonderful about being in a column of marching people: the gravel popping under soles, the leather flexing in boots, the kind of saddle-top sounds as the ruck (what a backpack gets called in the Army) frames settle. Occasionally someone, out of sheer misery, sighing Oooh, or just blowing out air, which in the general silence is like a whale breaching and then slipping back under the surface. You can watch a leaf float down from a tree or stare at the gufs rifle in front of you...When cadets faltered, other cadets would softly encourage them. "Come on. You can do this. I know you can do this." The sound of the boots and the smell of the road and the sun on the leaves and this soft, encouraging undertone. When cadets fell, other cadets would move forward, lift them up. I remember, during my first road marches, feeling simply blessed.Nordic walking with friends is like that. We start off chipper, chatting happily with each other, and enjoying the brisk pace as the poles pop on the ground to push us forward. If it's a long walk, the chatter subsides, and open mouth breathing start to take its place.
Walk a little longer and it's a matter of getting it over with. This is the point where friends start to encourage each other, or the stronger ones pick up the conversation to take everyone's minds off the chore.
At that point, we renew our commitment to finishing. One foot in front of the other. Stop thinking about finishing in order to finish. One foot in front of the other. Think of a favorite song if we're not actually listening to music. One foot in front of the other. Go into that mental space where we don't think about the walk.
Isn't life like that? Remember the cliche: life is a marathon, not a sprint. The good news is we can recover from setbacks because it is a marathon. Just remember: one foot in front of the other.
