The extra mile discipline. The interesting things often come after the first difficulties

Please, please, please. These were the words of our 6-year-old daughter. After having freshly learned to roller skate, her dream was to go for long rides with the family.

After a round of Marie Kondo questions, four pairs of rollerblades take up space. Are we going to really use them? In the end, we agreed that it could be an excellent family outdoor experience.

So finally, we were ready, training a bit on the parking lot before starting our first trip.
I approached an athletic man who stored his rollerblades in his trunk. Apparently, he was coming back from a ride. 

– Where to start, please?
– You start from there; it’s a nice loop of 16 km. The first 3 to 4 km, the ground is not so pleasant. But then it’s agreeable. Enjoy.

After the excitement of the three first kilometers, it started to become difficult. A cold headwind prevented us from progressing. The ground was not so nice. Children began to become tired. There was no one on the track, and we were not even sure that was the right road. Everyone was starting to think, “shall we come back.” At least the wind will help us.

The extra mile.

We finally continue, the sun was back, the quality of the track has improved, the wind was with us. The place was great. We met some very beautiful birds.
In what seemed like no time, we were finalizing the loop and coming back to our car. It was a great experience, we were proud and happy to have done it. Coming back home, we were planning our next family trip.

The extra miles in this example made a big difference.
If we had given up and turned back, we wouldn’t have lived this beautiful experience. We might never have skated again as a family. How many of these extra miles are possible at work, when we learn, in our daily life…

Shall we always do the extra mile?

There might be situations where the extra mile represents a life-threatening case or a danger of going bankrupt… These situations require more thought.
But most of the time, the worse case is still manageable. So let’s do the extra mile. Let’s take these minor risks and create unique memories.

Don’t miss your next extra miles.