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Go For a Walk

I came up with the title for this inspirational piece while reading a short article.  It was part of the recent alum magazine my alma mater sends.  Since I went to a reputable place, I trust what they include and send out to all of us.  Unless you have a huge amount of money in your will for them, they are better off if most of us live a very long time!  I promise to keep giving until I am dead, but they are not in my will.  The title they used which lured me in stated, “Eat This, Not That!”  I thought it was going to be about food, but it was more about exercise.  And it was basically a summary of some articles.

Since I walk a fair amount almost every day, I felt like they were preaching to the choir.  But I read the article anyway.  The article opened by sharing some statistics about how sedentary Americans have become.  With all the technology available and the entertainment we have at home, sometimes there is little incentive for folks to do anything but work and play around on their phones, etc.  And most of that entails sitting.

But the article made its most important point: “…it’s so important for everyone to get up and get moving on a daily basis.”  I don’t need convinced.  The article told me walking is the easiest way to get moving.  I agree, although I do miss the running I did for so many years.  We are told “physical activity is advisable at any age,” but then the clincher came.  Physical activity is “an absolute non-negotiable past one’s 60th birthday.”  So, there you have it.  If you not yet 60, get ready.  If you are 60 or older, get moving!

The article then adds some points that I already knew, but it is good to be reminded.  Walking helps keep some weight off.  It helps us not be depressed.  There was some good news.  Medical experts say that “walking at one’s own pace is enough to burn fat at optimum efficiency.”  We don’t have to go charging off like an exercise maniac.  Just get moving.  Let nature take its course.  

The article debunks concerns that we can get too old to walk.  Of course, I recognize there may come a time when physically I am not able to do it.  But until then, do it.  The authors also want to allay our fears that walking can leave us prone to injury, but that seems not to be very likely.  

There was other good news.  Some studies seem to confirm that “walking, creativity, and positive mood are all associated with one another.”  I am not sure I fully agree with their conclusion, but it is worth sharing.  “Essentially, the more you walk, the happier and more creative you’ll be.”    I suppose you can choose not to walk or exercise in order to test that hypothesis, but I see no reason to be stupid.  It’s probably true and I prefer risking happiness and creativity to walking a little.  Get moving and see for yourself.  I loved the way Karisa Karmali puts it: “Walking is almost an insurance policy for aging well.”  I prefer that to its alternative!

I like learning seemingly innocent little things.  I know walking is good for me and, as I said, I do it almost daily.  I usually go alone; I am introverted enough to enjoy being by myself.  I know the likelihood or reducing the chances for Alzheimer’s (even though everyone can tell you about someone who walked a lot and still lost their minds).  I was intrigued when I read, “brisk walking increases the size of the hippocampus among older adults. The hippocampus is responsible for memory formation.”  Most of us don’t know what the hippocampus does, but if walking makes it a bit bigger, I going to keep moving.

While all of this makes perfect sense to me, it is still fun to read it and be confirmed in what I know.  As I finished the article, I realized there was a missing piece, which is also important for me.  I think there is a spiritual dimension to walking.  Having said that, I won’t suggest that you go for a walk and meet or find God.  Maybe that will happen, but I suspect more of you will have the kind of experience I have.  Almost all the time, I walk outside.  And so, this puts me right in the middle of nature.  I obviously love the days when it is in the mid-70s, brilliant blue sky and a fresh wind.  But I also will go when it is cold, rainy and not nice.  The weather is a given for me.  Walking is a choice.  That is the only thing to choose.  

I understand nature as God’s environment or context for me.  My theology does not think God creates a lousy rainy day on Tuesday to test my will.  But somehow creatively God has provided a day for the choice of a walk and has creatively provided life for me to exercise that choice and get moving.  Maybe I remember to utter a prayer of thanks as I take off or even turn a corner.  

Spiritually speaking, the question is whether I can be aware enough to recognize the gift of this world and this life?  The question is whether I can be aware enough to be grateful---even if it is a rainy day.  To see my walk-in spiritual terms continues to provide a way to grow and get even more into it.  And then I read one more thing I want to consider and maybe implement.  Researchers found that “if older adults walk with a pal regularly, they may have an even better brain boost.”  Maybe I can see walking as another way to foster community.  I can still grow!

Definitely, I am going to go for a walk.



https://www.eatthis.com/what-a-daily-walking-habit-does-to-your-body-after-60-say-experts/


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