Blog #532: The Little Feet That Carried Me

If I can walk THERE…
I do.

Why?

Walking not only allows me to check off my daily “exercise” box, but even more…it encourages me to live life moving healthier and slower. I’m sensing that maybe… just maybe…the more I walk slowly through life without the need to press and push, the more extended my years will be.

Who knows?

I’ll continue to give the idea a test “walk”…and share my results in 20 years.
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So it’s no surprise…

When the ship I was sailing on arrived in Oahu, I passionately chose to walk the 15-mile round-trip from the cruise port through the cool town of Waikiki and on to my day’s destination…Diamond Head Crater.

Diamond Head is a volcanic crater that’s been extinct for 150,000 years. When you get to the ticket entrance, it’s a 1.6 mile round trip walk up a steep trail. At the 760-foot summit, a hiker is blessed with a 360-degree view of Oahu.

It’s crazy spectacular.
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After starting my climb to the summit…

I was surprised how many children were doing the steep hike with their families. It became obvious, however, that a lot of them weren’t happy about it. There were lots of tears being thrown into the Universe by some very downcast young hikers.

Because of this…

Each time I passed one of the little hiking warriors, I encouraged him or her:
“Wow! You’re an awesome hiker! Great job! You’re amazing!”

Small teary faces would look up at me as I passed. As I turned around to look at the little people, I would often see tears stop…them staring at me wondering “Who is that?!”…and their little feet starting to move again.

When I got to the top of the mountain…

I was sincerely wearing two very tired sneakers…and my compassion grew stronger for the little “sneakers” that were giving it all they had to keep up with their parents’ longer legs.

This was definitely not an easy hike.
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After gawking at the magnificent views of Oahu at the summit…

I started to drag my tired butt back down the mountain. Mentally, I was quite aware that I still had a 7+ mile walk back to the ship. This was gonna’ be one of those times I needed to dig deep and find my THIRD wind. At tired points like this, it’s my plan to focus my brain on the INSPIRING…and not the TIRING.

And on this day, I 100% found my inspired focus.

It would be in a little person.

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Up ahead…

A little girl was lying on the trail. She was crying HARD. She was wiped out, and her little heart and feet had no more “GO!” in them. Her desperate mom was trying to get her up off the dusty path, but the girl had tuned her mom out.

She wasn’t budging.

So I did what I do.

I came up to the little girl on the trail…and stopped. I smiled at the discouraged mom…kneeled next to the little girl and said:

“Wow! You’re an awesome hiker! I don’t know how you’ve come this far! You…ARE…amazing!”

The girl stopped wiggling and crying.

With a grungy wet face, she raised and looked up. I’m sure she was shocked that a stranger was kneeling down and talking to her. She watched me closely.

I continued.

“You know…you’re probably THE best hiker out here today. How do you do it? I’m sooo tired, I’m not sure I can make it! I think I have to lay down, too!”

She liked that.
Her talking began.

And she was really good at it.

She got back up on her feet…and with a dirty smudged face said:
“I’m a good hiker. And so are you. We’re both good.”

I looked at the mom to make sure I had her support. Her smile told me it was a relief that her daughter was even back on her feet.

My words kept going.

“Well…I’d sure love some help making it to the bottom. I’m not sure I can do it. I need a good hiker like you to help me.”

She wiped her snotty nose…and her feet started moving forward.

We were heading down.

She began telling me about how she had successfully hiked UP…and after that, she started telling me everything else in her world she thought I should know.

Her mouth kept going.
And the three of us made it to the bottom of the trail.

There were zero more collapses.
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With a little encouragement…

Three people won that day.

1. An exhausted little girl…was energized and refueled.
She finished the hike happy and will probably hike again because she now knows “she is one of the best hikers…EVER!”

2. A desperate mom…succeeded in getting down the mountain.
As we said good-bye…she mouthed to me the words, “Thank you!” and put a hand on her heart.

3. A tired hiker…had magical “inspiration” added to his sneakers.
I was given the energy to walk the rest of the way to the ship with my feet feeling a little less tired…and my heart feeling a whole lot MORE inspired.

And isn’t THAT how this “inspire-someone-else” thing often works?

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I guarantee…

There are tens of people floating in your world today that would love a little encouragement and positive reinforcement. The world is nasty good about beating the crap out of people and taking the wind out of their motivational sails. It can feel REALLY good when someone believes in you enough to say:

“You’re amazing! Keep going! You inspire me!”

I’ll be looking to do that for someone today.

I hope you will, too.