Musings at Altitude

I’ve been walking a lot over the last few months…almost at a Forrest Gump compulsiveness…and tonight I had just under two hours to get a multi-mile walk in, spend time in the weight room, shower and pack, eat a salad at the hotel restaurant, and then rush to the airport to join a hoard of people exiting Alaska on a late Friday night.

During the walk, I hit that perfect stride…where your steps get synchronized with the music, the pace is faster than normal, the breathing stays calm though, and the sweat starts pouring out.

And then I stopped.

I had to.

My shoe lace was untied.

I had been in that perfect stride for 15 minutes or so, and I was looking forward to being in that stride for an awful lot longer.

But I stopped.

And that perfect stride did not return.

In all phases of my life, I’ve been desperately seeking that perfect stride.

Personal.

Professional.

Physical.

Spiritual.

It seems so rare when I actually find it, but when I do, it’s something special.

It’s nirvana actually.

And then a “shoe lace” always comes untied.

In my personal life, I miss a special event or do something dumb (happens a lot actually).

In my professional life, something goes wrong which takes down the entire team.

In my spiritual life, I give into that temptation and someone gets hurt.

In each case, that perfect stride and near nirvanic state takes a hit when the shoe lace comes untied.

Obviously, we each quickly tie it back and work hard to get back in stride.

Sometimes it happens fast.

Other times it’s a long and painful process.

But we eventually get back in stride.

And the smiles return.

Big time.