All That You Can't Leave Behind

The only baggage you can bring

Tom Hanks in the closing scene of 2000’s Cast Away

Few movie scenes have left me with a lump in my throat like the one that closes Cast Away. You remember it, don’t you?

When Tom Hanks, who plays a FedEx systems analyst named Chuck Nolan, has returned after four years stranded on a deserted South Pacific island only to find that his girlfriend — whom he’d planned on proposing to — has married someone else?

The scene in which they take the (very) short drive in the rain in Chuck’s old Jeep — when they realize that, no matter how much they loved each other before his plane crash, life has moved on and they have to let each other go — that one, of course, gets me.

But the next scene, in which we see Chuck travel to the middle of nowhere to deliver the last package from his ill-fated cargo flight — that’s the one that really gets me.

We see him on the side of a dusty Texas highway, a road atlas splayed across the hood of his car. A woman driving by, seeing how lost he looks, slows down and stops. She tells him if he takes one direction, the road will take him to “Amarillo, Flagstaff… California.” Take the other, and he’ll find “a whole lot of nothing, all the way to Canada.”

He thanks her, and she drives off. But she hasn’t gotten far when he notices a symbol on the tailgate of her truck, the same angel’s wings painted on the package he’d just delivered.

Chuck watches her drive away, then walks into the middle of two roads. He stands — literally, as well as metaphorically — at a crossroads. Remember, he’s lost everything important to him: the woman he loved, colleagues who lost their lives, years of his life.

And yet, even after all he’s gone through, he stands at the door of a new chapter. He remembers what he learned from all those years stranded on the island: “I know what I have to do now. I’ve gotta keep breathing. Because tomorrow the sun will rise. Who knows what the tide could bring?”

I share this with you because, after all the years I’ve been writing this newsletter, one thing that comes up again and again in the comments are moments you’ve been at a crossroads in your own lives.

Times when you’ve been injured. Moments when you’ve lost a spouse, or lost a job, or moved to a new city, or watched your parents grow old, or your children grow up. Joyous times and challenging times.

Now, I’m at one of my own in my professional life. The company I work for is going through a merger, which means you probably can guess what comes next: a number of roles are being eliminated, including mine.

I share that with you not so you’ll feel sorry for me — I’m fine, my company has treated me wonderfully, and is giving me a really nice severance package — but to let you know, I’ve arrived at a crossroads too. For the moment, I’m not sure which way to go.

There’s something I’m losing, for sure. But this moment also reminds me there are more possibilities than what I’ve imagined so far; maybe this moment is asking me to think in a different way?

Occasionally, I’ve shared articles here on finding what some call your “why” — the reason you’re out there running, pounding the pavement (or the trail), putting one foot in front of the other, again and again.

I’ve known what that is for me… sometimes. Of course, when I’m training for a race, my reason is to build myself up so I can run 10 miles, or 13 miles, or 26 miles, or whatever.

But dig a little deeper, and I think why I keep doing this is so I can discover who I am out there on the road. How I’m developing, who I’m becoming. I process everything in my life when I’m running; I don’t really think about my pace or my distance all that much anymore.

Now that the new year is here — can you believe it’s really 2026?! — I stand, like many of you no doubt, at a place where the path ahead is clouded. I’m not sure which way to go. But I’m excited to take steps forward and find out.

I’m also excited about the year ahead for us here at THM. I’ve so enjoyed getting to know you better over the past year, through the interviews so many of you have done — more are on the way, and please know I’d love to talk with you if you’re interested in sharing your story.

Something that has also been a blast for me is live video, which Anne, RD & Avery, NBC-HWC and Anna Maltby have been so gracious to appear with me. I hope to do more like these with them this year, and to bring in more voices I think you’ll love hearing from.

Next week, we’ll get started in earnest with running for the year, as I’ll share training plans for multiple distances in each week’s issue — half marathon, full marathon, 10-miler and 10K.

You’ll need to be a paid subscriber to receive these, plus everything else our members get — become one here for 30% off today.

In the meantime, I’d love to know — how did your year go, and have you reached a crossroads in your own life? What have you learned, and how has it gone?

As always, keep in touch and let me know how your running/life is going!

Your friend,

— Terrell

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A musical coda: whenever I need a little boost on the treadmill, this is the song I turn to: