A little background. When I was a little girl, my mom used to have to beg me to go outside. I wasn't athletic, couldn't do a cartwheel (still can't), and refused to ride a bike (long story). I was much more interested in reading, talking to the adults, or listening to records. (We had records. I am old.) Mom said that she would tell me to go outside, and I'd stand at the back door, peering in, waiting to be let in like a sad puppy.
Growing up, I became more active, but it was always something social -- dance classes, jogging with friends, lots of aerobics classes. I was even on a television commercial for a gym in my hometown. I'd give anything to have that footage, because I was busting out some tell-tale 80's aerobics moves while my huge 80's hair stayed perfectly in place.
As an adult, the majority of my workouts have happened at the gym. And I will not pretend for a minute this has been a regular thing. I typically went out of guilt or boredom, or to get away from my family for an hour. But for some reason, I felt like logging time at the gym meant that I was doing something that really counted. Walking outside? It didn't seem like enough. It didn't feel like exercise.
But walking is exercise, especially if you commit to it. It understand I'm not running marathons here, but for a lot of us, walking is a great option. For me, I had to figure out how to get committed to doing it. I made it about having to get to work, and deciding that walking there would change my day. And there is something about getting about halfway there and realizing that I can't stop that keeps me going, and keeps me interested. On a treadmill, I always found a reason to stop. Every day I walk, that day is better than if I decided to skip walking. It's crazy how that works.
Until I started walking this year, I never looked forward to exercising. But now that I'm doing it with a purpose (getting somewhere), I truly look forward to it. Do you ever get the Sunday blues? I do, but now that I'm walking, I actually look forward to Monday mornings. That's big.
My stepfather James is in his 80's, and he walks every single morning. It began years ago for health reasons, and instead of whining and moaning about his health, James quietly began walking each day. He's not going crazy long distances, but he gets up and does it, and he is extremely committed to his walks. As a result, James is thinner, healthier, and because he's an artist, every day he finds something interesting to take home and sketch.
Getting committed to walking for transportation helped me decide to do something crazy. I sold my car! At first, the idea scared me to death, but it was an extremely liberating choice, and it made sense for my family, so the choice was easy. Now, I'm not going off the deep end. I'm still shaving my legs and haven't signed up to live in our friendly neighborhood ashram. We still have a car that we use, and I'm sorry to admit, it's an SUV. And we use it every day. But for now, I am proud to be carless in Austin.
Sometimes I forget that I don't have a car, like today, when it was time to leave work, and I realized my husband and daughter were at a school function. So I walked home. And then I got home and after logging nearly six miles today, got very interested in having dinner out. But since I was alone without a car, I made some soup and stayed home, and it was great. I'm telling you, it's a liberating thing!
I realize that everyone can't do this, and that this choice isn't practical for many families. But what if you chose to walk once a week? Twice? That's how I started, and now I'm a changed girl. I am so much happier, and I want you to feel the same.
Committing to walking has given me so many gifts. Reduced expenses, reduced stress, and I'm losing weight. All of that is worth so much more than a silly old car. So I kissed it goodbye, and I'm not looking back.
