Dawn Punter

The last 48 hours, I’ve been thinking a lot about mindset and how it affects me. 😉

I’ve spent the last three days walking along the coast from Málaga towards home, with my mindset changing daily, rather like the weather.

Interestingly, my PT brought up a similar theme at our session this morning, before I’d even had a chance to mention it.

I’d set myself a challenge to see how far I could walk in three days. I had a rough plan, but no fixed expectations about how far I’d get. The idea was to enjoy the journey as much as the destination, much like the Camino in April.

On day two, however, the coastal path disappeared, leaving me with kilometres of hard shoulder alongside the N340. Not quite the scenic coastal walk I’d envisaged!

Almost immediately, I started looking for an escape route. I could catch a bus. “You’re close enough to home Dawn to abandon the whole thing and be back in time for a cup of tea.”

Instead, I switched into determination mode.

“Just keep going.”
“Get through it.”
“You’ve committed to this, so finish what you started.”

And that’s what I did. But I certainly wasn’t enjoying myself. I was enduring it.

Then came day three, and I caught myself doing something rather familiar. Before I’d even set off, I was already having an internal dialogue about the walk.

After the previous day’s experience, I was anticipating more of the same.

“Do you really want another day of walking the hard shoulder in the heat, Dawn?”

Then the voice of commitment piped up.

“You said you’d do it, so bloody well do it, Dawn!”

Here I was, someone who regularly writes about living in the moment and finding enjoyment in everyday life, already beating myself up about a day that hadn’t even begun.

What was I doing?

I’d become so focused on the commitment I’d made that I’d forgotten why I’d wanted to do it in the first place.

So I decided to stop worrying about what might lie ahead. No more imagining endless stretches of road walking or talking myself out of something I hadn’t yet experienced. I’d see what came, take it as it arrived and give the day a chance.

And you know what? Day three turned out to be a beautiful walk.

How often we do this in everyday life?

We sign up for the gym, but spend the session wishing we were somewhere else or making excuses not to go. We arrange to meet a friend for coffee, then spend the morning thinking about everything else we need to do. We start something new already convinced it’ll be difficult, leaving little room for the possibility that we might actually enjoy it.

Sometimes we just need to get on with things and see what happens. Some days are more challenging than others; some turn out to be pleasantly surprising.

But I wonder how often we confuse commitment with endurance. We’ve said we’ll do something, so we feel we must see it through, even when we’re no longer enjoying it.

I’m reminded of the time I stayed up all night trying to learn to juggle three balls because we’d been set a challenge on a management course. I was determined to master it before the next day.

Guess what?
They never even mentioned it!

Perhaps mental strength isn’t always about gritting our teeth and pushing through. Sometimes it’s about recognising what we’re doing to ourselves, challenging our own thinking and being willing to approach things differently.

I’m not suggesting we can make every situation enjoyable simply by thinking positively. That would be rather too simplistic! But we can sometimes change our experience by changing the way we approach it.

My walk reminded me that I don’t always need to know how something will turn out. I can simply turn up, be present and see what happens.

It’s a reminder I probably needed as much as anyone.

And as for this morning’s PT session? I arrived thinking I had nothing left to give after three days of walking. My PT however, had other ideas, and it turned out to be a joy.
Thank you 🤗