Pace
I choose walking for exercise for a lot of reasons. Not that I need a lot of reasons.
I have a hard time exercising at a gym or in my home. I tend to view it as a chore and not a pleasure. I have to have a purpose in what I'm doing other than the obvious benefit of fitness. Lifting a five pound weight over my head 30 times just doesn't give me that purposeful sense. I'll say it: I get bored.
But I love to walk. When I walk, I have the reward of getting to where I'm going. I can feel my heart rate increase, the blood moving through my legs, the tension on my muscles. I breathe fresh, outside air. I am away from phones and people and obligations. I pray, and sense God's presence. I slow down.
I've been walking to work the last two days, and walking to lunch. I've missed it so much. It's been a long, long winter and I'm so ready to reclaim the air outside my house.
Yesterday I took a quiet one mile walk to Blimpies for lunch. As I approached the counter I heard a man talking at a table: "...and I had to look at 46 digital cameras and then blah blah blah then he said blah..." He said it so fast that he reminded me of a Benny Hill skit on fast forward. It surprised me that I noticed, really, because that's the world I live in. But, just taking 20 minutes to walk to the sandwich shop slowed me down enough to hear him differently.
Then, of course, I had the 20 minute walk back to work, so I had plenty of time to pick the event apart. At first, I started feeling guilty for being so busy that I related to fast-forward man. Why can't I just slow down altogether, find a vocation and a life that is slow-paced and more suitable to my introspective self? Am I driven? Am I oblivious?
So I walked again today, and thought about it some more. I eased off on myself a little, and considered the possibility that I'm slow paced and driven. And that the world we live in is both, and everything in between. I pictured a river, with a strong steady current below, and small streams running within it at different paces, all heading to in the same direction, all spilling down to the lowest ground, all at different speeds and with different beauty.
I think I kick myself in the arse too quickly sometimes. Not that I don't need it.
I have a hard time exercising at a gym or in my home. I tend to view it as a chore and not a pleasure. I have to have a purpose in what I'm doing other than the obvious benefit of fitness. Lifting a five pound weight over my head 30 times just doesn't give me that purposeful sense. I'll say it: I get bored.
But I love to walk. When I walk, I have the reward of getting to where I'm going. I can feel my heart rate increase, the blood moving through my legs, the tension on my muscles. I breathe fresh, outside air. I am away from phones and people and obligations. I pray, and sense God's presence. I slow down.
I've been walking to work the last two days, and walking to lunch. I've missed it so much. It's been a long, long winter and I'm so ready to reclaim the air outside my house.
Yesterday I took a quiet one mile walk to Blimpies for lunch. As I approached the counter I heard a man talking at a table: "...and I had to look at 46 digital cameras and then blah blah blah then he said blah..." He said it so fast that he reminded me of a Benny Hill skit on fast forward. It surprised me that I noticed, really, because that's the world I live in. But, just taking 20 minutes to walk to the sandwich shop slowed me down enough to hear him differently.
Then, of course, I had the 20 minute walk back to work, so I had plenty of time to pick the event apart. At first, I started feeling guilty for being so busy that I related to fast-forward man. Why can't I just slow down altogether, find a vocation and a life that is slow-paced and more suitable to my introspective self? Am I driven? Am I oblivious?
So I walked again today, and thought about it some more. I eased off on myself a little, and considered the possibility that I'm slow paced and driven. And that the world we live in is both, and everything in between. I pictured a river, with a strong steady current below, and small streams running within it at different paces, all heading to in the same direction, all spilling down to the lowest ground, all at different speeds and with different beauty.
I think I kick myself in the arse too quickly sometimes. Not that I don't need it.
5 Comments:
Patty~ when you com up north please give me a call...
I'd love to walk with you!
Groovy! I've still got your cell number in my phone, so if it hasn't changed, I'll get in touch. I should be up there in a couple of weeks for my mom's birthday.
okely dokely c u then! hoppy easter!
I have been going for more walks, too. I know what you mean about other forms of exercise seeming all too much like a chore. Over the winter, I exercised with Billy Blanks, who forced me, via his DVD, to jab and kick at the air just one too many times. I then shifted to dancing, a more pleasurable workout, but still a chore. And I don't care how many of the moves I got right, I was keenly aware that I did not look as good doing it as the girls in the video did.
I am so glad to be out walking again. Going for walks has always been my quiet place. Despite the hum of traffic, despite the stop and go of walking through town, it is still very serene. Taking walks has alway gotten me through difficult times, because it has given me lengths of time to pray and reflect that I otherwise would not take out of the day. It is in those times that I am able to make sense of things, and when I return home and have to step back into that world that I left behind for an hour or so, I feel more at peace and able to handle it.
I love going for walks for all those reasons, Stefanie. It's built in prayer time for my day. Since I moved to this town, I've had a harder time being consistent - not as many places to walk when it's not full daylight. But walking to work is an alternative. It really clears my head.
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