Why I Started Walking (Stacey)
Emotions
Anxiety, tension, grief, conflict, anger, and tears—none of these emotions sit well with me, yet I've had them. More times than I wanted. Being human, I'll probably have them again. Calm is good enough for me. Don't get me wrong. I thoroughly enjoy happiness, laughter, and praise. I've just learned to be at peace with calmness.
Years in child welfare, years working with abused children, I crave the calm feeling. I seek it. I chase it. I chase it the way a child who overslept runs to catch the school bus. Well, maybe not children who didn't do their homework, but you get the idea.
Two Options
Two fail-safe ways to find calm are food and movement. Thankfully, I'm blessed with food allergies. If you're rereading that last sentence, don't worry. You read it right. See, when you have a laundry list of food allergies, brussel sprouts just don't cut it for comfort food.
I like brussel sprouts, but they're not the same as a box of chocolate. After all, have you ever gone down the Valentine's Day aisle of your grocery store and seen vegetable candy? Here, honey, artichoke hearts just for you. Happy Valentine's Day!
How about option two then? Movement sounds great to me. Words matter. Therefore, I don't call movement exercise or working out. Movement sounds much calmer to me. Walking, hiking, even folding laundry is movement. How many times have you heard "exercise releases endorphins and endorphins make you happy"?
If lifting weights or running a marathon is your thing, good for you. If you're like me and the mere thought of having to do either makes you think a cold shower in winter isn't so bad, then walking may be your thing. Simply putting one foot in front of the other and going however far or long you want can be a relaxing and freeing activity.
Walking in the Woods
Fortunately, I live in a place where all state parks are free. If I ignore the posted directional signs and gps, instead taking back country roads, I'm only a few minutes from a state park that has miles of hiking trails. Popular trails can be "crowded" at times, but on the more rugged trails, I often see more snakes than people. I hike multiple times a month. My husband is a willing accomplice in these hiking treks to chase the calmness trails provide.
The Path to Nowhere
Wear a mask. I'll never wear a mask. Use soap. I always use soap. Schools close. My children need their medicine. Give it to them. It's at school. Flights are grounded. Emotions are high. I unplug the television.
Forget it. I can't take this drama any more. I'm going hiking. Now. Off to the park my husband and I went. Hours later, perfectly calm, we returned home. The next day was more of the same. Then, out of the blue, came a sucker punch. You know the kind. The kind that you never saw coming. The kind that makes you gasp, grab your stomach, double over, and take a minute to see straight. Our governor had just closed the state parks. Out the door and down the street I went.
The neighborhood has a one-mile outer loop and no sidewalks. Around the block I went. Children sat at the edge of driveways and yelled diagonally across to children in another driveway who in turn yelled across and down. Crisscross the yelling went—the old fashion telephone game. I couldn't help but smile. First, one person walked with me on the other side of the street. Then, another person countered us. We gave wide berths when passing.
Weeks turned to months. Months turned to a year. You all know the world events of these recent years, so I won't dwell. Suffice to say, even today, when I'm not hiking, walking around and around the loop I go. When I stop, only calmness knows.
The Answer to Why I started Walking
So why did I start walking? Simple. Chocolate can make me sick. Walking is a good comfort food. Ready to join me?
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