Reflecting on my daily walks

This month, I am aiming to go for a walk, for pleasure, every day. Walks that get me from A to B are not included since those walks tend to be anxiety-inducing for me. If one has a time by which one needs to get somewhere, the journey is less enjoyable. Thus, when I say "walk" below, I mean a walk for the enjoyment of walking. I am eight days into my goal, having walked every day so far.

During winter, I find it all to easy to say that I should not go for a walk. For it is too cold!, says the old-timey James who sometimes makes an emergence, eager to start a sentence with "for", as if said sentence were a proclamation. I attribute many reasons to my aversion to walking in winter: the cold weather (which impacts me more so than others due to poor circulation in my hands), the risk of the pavements being slippy, the seducing warmth inside. With that said, I am excited whenever I do go for a walk.

I have started the challenge with a walk that takes me around 15 minutes. I have been listening to podcasts as I go. I am entertained by how I can, out of nowhere, start laughing when I am on a walk because a podcaster said something amusing. I sometimes listen to music, too. I sometimes walk and listen to nature. The birdsong is delightful, as are all of the other precious sounds of nature; leaves rustling, and the crisp, almost crunchy sound my shoes make as they walk on a bit of frozen (but not icy) pavement.

I aspire to make my way up to a 30 minute walk in the future. Perhaps once the month is over.

During the pandemic, I would walk for around an hour a day. Where I am now is far from where I was then, but the challenge excites me. Day by day the thought of going out in the cold becomes less intimidating; a routine is formed. I wanted to write down my thoughts so I can look back to this point in a few months.

As I write, I realise that perhaps there are little challenges I can set myself as I go that relate to things for which I can look out. I could try to notice more about the people around; what coats are people wearing. I could try to look for where the sun is. I am perpetually confused by the position of the sun in winter.

Walking makes me feel energized. Excited for the day ahead. Invigorated. I am glad I started to challenge myself to get back into a good walking routine.