A Few Words Can Be All That Is Needed

Location – Armature Works, Tampa, FL. Photograph by Kate Holliday, Photographer

There are days when we all need a little encouragement.  After spending most of the last few weeks nursing a pulled hamstring and glute muscle, I decided to try to get back to working out.  Actually, I pushed myself over the past weekend and did really well.  You know the expression “mind over matter?”  Well, my mind was great, but my muscles are always reminding me that they do “matter” in the sense that it takes a lot more stretching and warming up to do the things I have been doing for years.  Oh, yes!

Today I visited one of my favorite workout spots, Nathan Benderson Park, with the goal of not only power walking the just under  four-mile loop around the lake but also tackling the roughly 125 steps to top of the viewing tower.  Anyone who lives in Florida knows that state is basically flat so steps wherever I find them are meant to be taken without hesitation.

Location – Viewing Tower – Nathan Benderson Park. Photography by Xavier Photographic Art

So, without a second thought I set my sights on the top level and headed up.  I am not embarrassed to admit that I was winded and slowing down when I reached the landing leading to the last flight of steps to the top level.  I was breathing hard, leaning over looking at my feet as if willing them to keep going.  Then I looked up.  At the top of the steps there was a woman, a stranger, with the biggest, kindest smile on her face looking at me and saying “Come on!  You can do it!  You’ve got this!”

That was all I needed to hear.  I took a few deep breaths and charged on and as I reached the top (from an appropriate social distance) she put her hands in the air and exclaimed “You did it!”  Some days, that is all we need to hear.  The voice in our heads may be telling us we cannot do it when we know that we can and sometimes just getting a little encouragement from someone else goes a long way to helping us get there.  We can be that source of encouragement for ourselves and for others.  It does not matter if it is another flight of stairs or challenges that are much greater.  What matters is finding or being a source of support and encouragement that will help us get through the journey and keep us on the road to success.