[2021-12-05] Focus on what you love
Before today, I hadn't gone for a walk since November 15, the day of my surgery. While I had been out a few times in the past three weeks to attend appointments or to run errands, I hadn't set forth simply to walk.
This morning, when my daughter announced that she was going for a walk, I decided to tag along. I intended to do a short walk, so as not to push myself too hard, but I felt good enough to go further than I had planned. The sky was blue, the sun was shining, and the air was crisp but not cold.
Melanie told me that she had seen ducks on Cattail Creek in the previous few days, so we went off in search of some feathered friends. We found a couple of ducks on the creek and watched them for a while.
Melanie makes a point to search for things that she would not have seen had she not gone for a walk. This helps to make her solo walks more interesting and gives her an opportunity to practice gratitude. This approach has proven to be an antidote to the cabin fever she has felt, from time to time, since the start of the pandemic. It's so easy to spend your time going from room to room and screen to screen, she explained. Getting out for a walk changes the scenery.
Walking has been an important part of my own journey, helping me to focus on the present. There is always so much to see, hear, smell and touch on a walk. It reminds me of the line from The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse: "When the big things feel out of control...focus on what you love right under your nose."
These days, much in my life feels out of control. So I focus on what I love: walking with my daughter, shopping with my son for his new apartment, hearing my husband laugh heartily, receiving a visit from my sister, chatting with my mom, eating homemade scones, listening to music, watching a baking show, looking at twinkling candles, snuggling under the covers, observing wildlife. Oh, and breaking 10,000 steps for the first time in three weeks.
