I’m living the dream, I think to myself.

I had no idea what I was getting into.

You never quite know what you’ll see on a walk.

A woman stands crying on the side of the street. She hasn’t eaten yet today. The last food she had went to her little children. She hasn’t had a restful night of sleep in days. She stands, hunched over hoping that someone would offer a different response than “No.” Rejection echoes over and over. Why keep going? Why hope? Why live?

Both were good options.

Doing the dishes is not my favorite activity. It’s a task that just needs to be done. Even though our household is small, there always seems to be stack of dishes by the sink.

It’s 8pm on the night before the big event, and I’m having second thoughts.

The plan was to take a short break. I’d been working hard. And with my wife and daughter heading to the park, I figured a brief pause to see them off would be good for me. Five minutes or so, and I’d be right back to work.

I used to struggle with talking to people. I was shy and hesitant. But my main challenge was that even once I started a conversation, I didn’t know how to keep it going. I’d ask a question, the other person would reply with a word or two, and then I had to come up with something else to say.

A few weekends ago, I arrived in Park City for a retreat. After meeting up with a few other people in the group, we made our way to the house we were staying at for the weekend.

I was out on a walk when I saw her. She was standing on the grass beside the sidewalk, holding a leash. Not that the woman was paying any attention to her dog. Her gaze looked distant. She was lost in thought.

It was just an ordinary run. Setting off with a group of friends, I left the school grounds and headed toward a familiar forest trail. It was a route we ran often.

Years of training come together in a single moment.

Maybe you’ve had experiences like these…

In the span of ten seconds, my walk went from being simply good to magnificent.