Backstory: This Nudge is about more than just amping up my exercise routine. It’s about getting OUT. It’s about resting my brain. It’s about taking deeper breaths and taking in breathtaking scenery. It’s about moving forward, physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually.

I’m not sure yet whether I’ll use this Nudge to meet up with a friend for a catching-up session, or go on a quiet, meditational walk by myself.

Maybe I’ll do both.

What Happened: I did get out early this morning for a long walk with a dear friend. We caught up for over an hour, with plenty of topics left over for our next walk, which I hope we’ll schedule soon.

But the long walk I want to share in detail from this Nudge was something I did on my own.

I’ve shared recently that I’ve been struggling. I’m having a hard time getting going in the mornings, in part because I am searching for my lost mojo. This week I decided to try to Just Do It by setting a timer and forcing (yes) myself to get out of bed and just get moving.

Wednesday night I set out gear for walking: sturdy shoes, cozy sweatshirt and scarf, water bottle, sunglasses, phone with earbugs. I pretty much rolled out of bed and straight into the clothes and was out the door just after 6:00. Wahoo! My “treat” for doing this was a chunk of time to listen to a great story, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn read by Kate Burton, on audiobook.

I headed up our hill, explored a couple of unfamiliar streets, took in the views, listened to the story. All would have been fabulous if this was it.

But there was more.

I turned a corner and came face-to-face, we’re talking maybe 10 feet apart, with this beautiful creature.

I stopped. It stopped. The best way I can think to describe the encounter was we regarded each other. For several seconds.

Under normal circumstances, this could have been an awful experience. We have a coyote problem in our neighborhood, along the lines of family cats gone missing, dogs snatched right in front of their humans, warnings sent to parents to keep their small children indoors. If Louie (our dog) had been with me, this likely would have been terrifying.

But it was calm. It was…respectful.

I reached into my pocket to get my phone, to take a photo, which the coyote took as a signal to move. Phooey! But then it stood just beside a house and continued to look at me. I took a couple of steps, and it slipped into the garden. Double phooey! I took a couple more steps to peek into the garden and snapped the shot you see above.

The Ah-Hahs: A friend called shortly thereafter and I told her what had happened. “It’s a sign!” she said. “You’re going to have a year of adventures!” Okay then.

Back at home, I continued to think about it, and on a whim I googled “spiritual meaning of a coyote sighting”.

Well!

A coyote is a messenger, I learned, an “important messenger.” A coyote sighting is a reminder to “take a look within, to not take life too seriously, to lighten up, and to learn to laugh at ourselves and even our mistakes”. The coyote comes to encourage us to not just focus on a single problem/burden/concern, but to take in the whole of life.

“Do you feel stuck in a rut?” one site asked me. Uh, yep. Then the coyote came to tell me to stop taking things too seriously, to acknowledge the lighter side of things, and to enjoy life.

All this came to me because I nudged myself to take a long walk.

Wow.