I was in the final kilometre of my walk today and decided I’d run the last stretch. I could see a man up ahead walking towards me and as we got closer he began to clap and cheer me on “wohoo, you can do it, you can do it, yeaaaah!!” Just me and this happy, brilliant, supportive soul – I’m guessing on his holidays in Ireland – passing on this beautiful countryside road, sharing a moment of connection, encouragement and positivity. Awesome.

It reminded me of a time when I was living in Tokyo, out for a run one day and sprinting the last few hundred metres home. Sprints are the work of the devil. Some people are natural born sprinters, I, my friends, would sooner gouge myself in the eyeballs with a rusty fork than sprint. Anyway, there I am with the finish in sight, starting to lose the will to live, when out of nowhere this tiny little wrinkled old Japanese lady (who genuinely looked about 157) appears and starts clapping and cheering me on! She lifted me so much! I suddenly felt invincible. Shot to the end, and I’ve remembered her and the impact that her encouragement had ever since.

In a world of critics and judges, let’s be the ones to lift each other up and cheer each other on. It takes so little effort to say or do something encouraging for another person but the effects can be profound.

As Ram Dass says, we’re all just walking (or running!) each other home.

Happy long weekend everyone, may it be f*king fabulous 💓