Walk 45. Old shoes, new friend

Comfortable walk around GL this morning with a newish friend. I wore my old shoes (which apparently I'm supposed to be doing as I transition to new shoes. Oops. And thank goodness! I needed a pain free walk!) It was so nice. Nice weather, nice conversation, happy feet/calves. There was nothing "have to" or "should" about it. Pure pleasure.

It's kind of a bummer that's a revelation. I mean, I could have been taking purely pleasurable walks for years! Maybe it takes walking consistently to get to those kind of experiences. And don't get me wrong, I've definitely gone on nice walks before. But the question is....why not more often? Why is it so much easier to have a treat or watch mindless TV or surf the internet to quickly gratify my need for something good and soothing? Especially since going for a nice walk is all that AND good for me. And why before was a walk on a "to do" list, instead of on a "yay, let's go!" list?

Can I blame it a little on the experts? Walking is good for blah blah blah and you need to walk this fast for this many steps a day and it will blah blah blah. They turned it into a "have to." And I'm mad they took something simple and made it complicated. But I think that's a lot how modern life is. Just think about all the stuff that's been added to going for a walk (which we've all been able to do since we were 1). Pedometer, gps, apps, walking shoes, workout clothes, water bottle, hydrating (instead of drinking), energy snacking, etc. Occasionally I've seen someone running in jeans and the wrong shoes and I think, right on! They probably just felt like running. Who says you have to get all the right gear before going for a walk? Who says we have to get the right stuff before trying anything?

Don't get me wrong. This post is for me. Maybe you're not like this. I've been stopped many times from trying something new because I'm overwhelmed at the gear, learning curve and all the experts telling me the right way to do it. And, I honestly used to feel embarrassed when I'd go for a walk. I'm wearing the wrong thing, I'm going too slow, I look too fat, someone is looking at me, I don't have the right to be here. How crazy is that?? Fortunately those voices stopped many many walks ago. Probably at walk 3.

Anyway, today I really love walking. I love it every day, but today was just good. Now, go for a walk.

2.9 miles