[W Forum] Taking One Step Forward Today as Well

Even recently, I occasionally get asked, "What hobbies do you have?" What should I do for enjoyment rather than professional work? Looking back on my daily routine, I can say that exercising during my leisure time is my hobby. However, I haven't been able to do it for nearly two months now. What other hobbies do I have besides exercise? Since I enjoy spending time browsing wine shops or bookstores, that could also be considered a hobby.

While browsing a bookstore, I recently received as a gift a book whose cover I had casually glanced over without much thought. It was an essay by a famous actor, and I thought it would be too light a story for my busy days. However, surprisingly, it was so interesting that I read it all at once, and it helped me organize quite a few thoughts.

The main content of the book was about the author's hobby of 'walking.' Earlier, I defined hobbies as activities to enjoy leisure time, but the author's hobby was an indispensable act in life that allowed reflection on the day and projection on life. Personally, I felt three major things that I want to share with someone.

The author had been deeply captivated by the charm of walking for a long time. His love for walking continued both during his relatively free days as an unknown and now, when he must carve out time despite his fame. At one point, he resolved to complete a nationwide walking project with friends, their own version of a grand national trek. How great must have been the emotion and pride upon completing that project and returning home? I expected him to describe overwhelming emotions, but I was quite surprised by the author's story that he instead felt emptiness.

Indeed, under the passion and determination to achieve something great, we might keep moving forward, forgetting the people we met on the road, the shared sips of water, and the sunsets we watched while cooling sweat with the breeze. Perhaps, at the end of the road, it is not a grand achievement waiting for us, but the precious experiences on the paths we walked yesterday and today?experiences we will never encounter again?that enrich our lives.

Secondly, is the path I am walking truly the one I want? Or am I walking a path I do not want to? How absurd would it be if someone who set out to walk to enjoy the sea breeze and the freedom of birds flying in the sky ends up exploring various herbs along a mountainside?

Yet, don't we often choose such paths in our daily lives? Our lives are like a long journey where we must keep walking. We must have a 'center'?a core that allows us to walk without being swayed by others' decisions from the initial resolution we made.

Lastly, what is needed to continue on the path we have chosen without giving up halfway? It is a 'good habit' that allows us to proceed steadily without exhaustion. Sometimes, we might be too lazy and stay wrapped in blankets without moving, or after not walking for two days, we might run until out of breath today, but such irregularity prevents forming a daily walking habit. If we practice walking a little every day and it becomes ingrained as a habit, I will never remain in the same place. Surely, I will be closer to the destination I want to reach than yesterday.

Sometimes impatience leads to failure. Recently, I found myself unable to exercise. At an indoor climbing gym I had visited several times, my eagerness to improve quickly led me to overexert myself, resulting in a ligament injury in my ankle, and now I cannot even approach the climbing gym. It is the same principle. Without hoping for shortcuts to achieve faster or greater results, we must advance little by little every day. This book was truly a grateful encounter that allowed me to reconsider the often overlooked idea of 'steadily walking my own path.'

Yoon Bo-won, Hana Financial Investment Club1WM Center Sales Executive

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.