Le Weekly #52 – Year Later ✍️

One quote, one word, one shoutout, one story, one neigh from Philosophical Horse and one question.

Mike Wright

Nov 04, 2024

Greetings everyone. Happy Monday!

Take a moment to reflect on each snippet. Comment your thoughts below.

Le Quote 🗣

“I’m going to set the ocean on fire.” – Michael Van Beek.

A passionate-yet-broken-telephone version of the quote, “You can’t boil the ocean.”

Le Word 💬

chonky (adjective) adorably chunky, bulky or large.

Le Shoutout 🧣

Twelve months ago, I set out to write fifty-two consecutive weekly newsletters.

One year later, I have returned from the quest unscathed.

To every Le Weekly reader, I’d like to say one thing:

Shoutout.

(Thank you for reading, thank you for commenting, and thank you for being part of this journey. None of this would have been possible without you, so thank you).

Oddly enough, looking back, some of the best newsletters were the ones I thought were the worst.

Some were written in under an hour, while others took a few days. Some made me smile while writing, while others made me say, “Surely I can’t share this”.

No matter what, I’d click “publish”, go to bed, and wake up the next morning to find Clare, Meg or my mom’s inevitable first like.

More importantly, I’d recognise that at least one person saw value in what was written, and that, to me, was a success each time.

Le Story ✍️

Last week, I went on a really slow run to Plato Coffee.

It wasn’t slow on purpose; it was slow because I simply couldn’t run fast.

I was feeling rather chonky after seven weeks of poor diet, improper stress management and minimal sleep.

Hence: the really slow run to Plato Coffee.

I knew if I knew I could stop for a hot brew halfway through, I’d continue.

So, Plato.

“Greetings,” I said to the barista trio.

“Greetings,” they replied. “Good run?”

“Slow run,” I said, “But today’s slow run leads to tomorrow’s good run.”

“Nice,” Bradley responded before looking at my hockey shirt.

“Who do you play for?” he asked.

“I don’t play anymore. I injured myself,” I said.

“Not even for fun?” he asked.

“Sadly not,” I replied before ordering an espresso.

We chatted about injury and life until the expresso was ready.

“Espresso,” Robin said.

“Danko,” I replied.

Usually, the Plato baristas put quotes on the cups; however, because the espresso cup was so small, there was no quote.

So, I looked at Bradley, Robin and Gray and asked them for a verbal message of the day instead.

With a smile, Bradley looked me in the eyes and said, “Keep moving forward.”

“No,” Robin replied.

We all looked at him.

“Today’s quote is: Do it, even if it hurts.”

The next day, I ran back to Plato.

“Espresso?”

“Please, and a quote.”

Bradley smiled, picked up a mini paper cup, and started writing.

A few moments later, the coffee machine came to a stop.

“Expresso,” Robin said, handing me a coffee.

“Danko,” I replied.

Excited, I held out my hands and took the cup from him.

There, written on the small little cup in permanent marker, was a quote:

“You grow through what you go through.”

And I appreciated it very much.

Note from Le Editor: When I saw the quote, “You grow through what you go through,” the first thing that came to mind was Le Weekly. I started Le Weekly because I wanted to prove that I could be consistent, and it proved that I can be consistent. I chose to “grow through what you go through”, and you can, too.

“The best time to plant a tree was ten years ago; the second best time is today.”

Yesterday, I ran back to Plato for the same recipe:

1x Run
1x expresso.
1x quote.
1x Chat with the baristas

When the coffee arrived, the quote said:

“Sometimes it’s okay if the only thing you did today is breathe.”

Immediately, I knew the quote wasn’t for me. Still, I thanked the baristas and walked outside.

I took two sips, looked up and saw a man looking down.

“How are you?” I asked.

“Not too good,” he said.

“Well, this message is for you today,” I said, showing him the cup.

He looked up, smiled, and said thank you.

Le Neigh from Philosophical Horse 🐴

“Neigh.” – Philosophical Horse.

Le Question 🤔

What has been your favourite Le Weekly memory this year?

(You can either comment on Substack or reply directly to the email as an email).

Le Weekly Habit 🌱

with 4WKS Coffee.

Every month, 4WKS sends out a “habit card”. Each card has five prompts printed on it.

This month’s theme is: Finding Our Purpose

This week’s prompt is:

#1: On an X-axis, list your age from 0 till now. On the Y-axix, pinpoint your highest peaks in terms of your experiences. When have you felt the most alive? What does it tell you?

Have a powerful Monday, everyone.