“Which way, Dad?” Every time we hit a fork in the trail, my daughter Leyla Coenen would ask me that. But she already knew the answer.
When she was 12, we made a pact: work out together every single day.
No end date. No excuses.
We live in the mountains of Andorra, so most “working out” meant running crazy long and steep trails.
Over a thousand workouts. Three years.
Through cold, exhaustion, and plenty of moments where we both wanted to quit. But never did.
But here’s the part I think about most.
Whenever I knew a fork was coming — one trail curving downhill, easy and very inviting, the other climbing hard into the mountain — I’d let her run ahead.
She’d reach the split. Turn around. “Which way, Dad?”
Every single time: “Take the hard choice.”
Uphill. Always uphill.
Then one day, she didn’t ask.
She just turned left. Straight up the mountain. Didn’t even look back.
I stood there watching her disappear up that trail and felt something I still can’t fully describe. 🤩
She had internalized something that takes most adults decades to learn — if they ever learn it at all:
– Hard choices, easy life.
– Easy choices, hard life.
We say it like it’s simple. It isn’t.
Every single day brings a new fork in the road.
– The hard conversation you keep avoiding.
– The business decision that scares you.
– The early morning when the bed feels too good.
Easy trail or hard trail.
Most people choose down. Every time.
Then wonder why life keeps getting harder.
The fork is always coming.
The only question is which way you turn.
PS: Enjoy this?
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