Today I had a lovely walk (yesterday too) in this warmer weather and enjoyed the many benefits of walking. What you see when you're walking is not to be compared to what you don't see when you're driving. Ever notice when you are walking there is this strange "walkers bond" that goes on? I was walking today and had several short conversations with folks. I'm sure they would be longer if it were warmer. Well the one instance was two small children who had walked out onto their front porch and were looking at me. The little girl shouts out, "Hi!" "Do you like my dress??!!?" I had my ear phones on and quickly turned them down and said, "I can't hear you honey." She then repeated it, "Do you like my dress?" Oh the innocence of childhood! Can you imagine an adult asking you this? It just never fails to amaze me how special a child's outlook on life is. I love the sweet candor of children. I told her it was beautiful and she pointed and proceeded to tell me the boy was her brother. To prevent the parents from thinking I'm some freak after children I said my goodbyes and told them to 'be good." Later I saw a man walking his rather large Golden Retriever. Of course it was large, it WAS (still is I hope!) a Golden Retriever! Anyhoo the man said hello, and again I had to rip off my ear phones and say hello back. His dog stared at me as if to say, "I wish I could come say a close up hello." The man then said, "My dog really wants to cross the street and say hello but he is trained not to run off." I said, "I can see this!" It brought me so much joy to have these encounters. :)
As I continued my walk and it got colder I just felt the invigorating rush of energy that comes from getting your blood flowing and moving your bones. It is great. Maybe I should do this on a regular basis? How ingenious!
Tonight as I was discussing some matters with my dear mother, it came to me how when you're driving as opposed to when you're walking what two totally different experiences they are. I thought of some of the differences. Where would you EVER see people roll down their windows while at a traffic light and try to converse? Or while driving down the road if you saw someone you knew there isn't much you can do but wave and maybe they might know who you were. Or think what crazy person is waving at me? You would never feel that way while walking. I am happy to interact with people while on my walking time. If I perfer not to have this then walking at night is an option. Just not in the city, right? Or maybe if there are lots of city lights around it could be safe? Maybe and maybe not.
Now if drivers tried to do too much of this interaction imagine the accident possibilities! They might even drive over a few walkers and that would be disastrous! Now what I was originally trying to say is walking is good for more than just your health and the cardiovascular side of things. It's good for your heart, not your pumping heart per say....but your emotions, mind, thinking, psychological side, etc. If you already knew this and you are an avid walker, good for thou! If not I hope I can inspire you because a dear friend of mine whose 'mind' I rather like and enjoy, inspired me. I'll just call him the coat man. Or maybe some crazy random numbers? (3,9,7) He'll understand!
Also drivers are usually too busy worrying about where they have to be to care about the welfare of others. Or having any kind of social experience while driving. Unless of course they are on their cell phones, which is dangerous too. I have to say I enjoyed the walking this weekend and was doing quite a bit of it during the summer. But I cannot let winter stop me from this multi-beneficial activity.
