Say it with me people, we’ve all been waiting so so long: HELLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Spring!! Today is the first day of spring!!! ‘Bout damn time you showed up! Yes, there is snow in the forecast for this morning where I live, but I won’t let it dampen my joy in welcoming the season of renewal and rebirth.
It was a long hard winter for a lot of us, myself included. Frankly, it beat me up and turned me blue. I was in hibernation mode for a long while and may have even slipped into a bit of depression. Maybe you have been there before. You don’t feel like doing anything remotely close to exercise and the more you don’t exercise the longer you don’t feel like yourself. This is where I was. It’s a vicious cycle. The inactivity made me feel like a slug and feeling like a slug kept the inactivity going strong.
I told myself “you have got to break out of this.” But each day would go by and still I was in couch potato mode, low ambition and low energy.
Then one Sunday the sun came out. Things warmed up a bit. I told myself “get yourself out the door for a walk. Now.” That’s when I learned that breaking out of a rut literally starts with one step and then another. I got my sneakers on and a jacket and stepped outside. No headphones. No music. I didn’t want me hunting for my regular ‘gear” to distract me from my goal: get up and get out. I walked 30 minutes. I let the sun hit my face. Voices inside my head were saying “what’s the big deal in a 30 min walk? You used to be a runner!” I told the voices to shut the hell up. I was just so glad to be off the couch and out the door. Walking. In the sun. It was enough. It was my answer.
The next day, I walked again. Thirty minutes. No music. Slowly coming around. Slowly coming out of it. Slowly recognizing a person I hadn’t seen for too long. Hey, Mary I remember you. Nice to see you again.
A few days later, a neighbor asked if I would join her for a walk. I said yes without hesitation. She is recovering from a back injury and was worried that she’d have to go at a slower pace than what I’d typically walk.
“I hope this won’t be a waste of your time,” she said.
“Never. Walking is never a waste of time. No matter what.”, was my reply.
She told me that her chiropractor says walking is the answer to everything.
I couldn’t agree more.
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