Today was an…adventurous day. It started off as a normal Sunday. I slept in a little bit, woke up, got my car washed so it was nice and clean, and then I went grocery shopping for the week. I returned the movie Captain Fantastic at a Redbox, planning to pick up a new movie I reserved right after it. When I walked up to the Redbox, I quickly realized I didn’t have the reservation card with me. Then I thought, that’s okay, I’ll grab it when I go home and I can get some gas for the car while I’m out.
I came back to find myself LOCKED OUT of my own house! I’ve never done that before. Maybe in college, but not at home!
Acknowledge the situation, be patient with the solution
I was frustrated with myself. This was the one time I didn’t bring my key with me. I didn’t bring much money with me. My phone battery was at 26% when I left the house. It was at such a low percentage because I planned to charge it when I went home. It was only on me for emergency calls, and of course for the Target Cartwheel app to save money on groceries. I had 62 miles left in my car’s fuel tank.
All of this put together makes me sound like I was an unprepared, clueless, irresponsible adults. I felt terrible.
I bought myself McDonald’s for breakfast (nice and…greasy!) and patiently waited back at my house for someone to unlock my own door. I didn’t want to waste gas or money, so I swept the garage, walked around a little bit, and listened to some music from my car radio. Luckily, the locksmith came. She opened the door in less than a minute.
Once I was back inside the house, I was still a little upset with myself. It was funny, and it was nice to relax without much to do. But I felt so silly!
So I walked it off. I walked 3.01 miles from my house to the gas station, where my reserved movie was at the Redbox. I thought, it’ll take a good 20 minutes or so for me to walk there. It was beautiful outside! I wanted to enjoy the fresh air.
In the words of Rihanna…walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk
I packed my shades, the CORRECT reservation card, and a few other small items and headed out! The path was nice and shady. I only had to cross the street once. Walking felt amazing.
It wound up taking me 35 minutes to walk to the gas station, and it was definitely hot. The walk was difficult at first since I hadn’t gone on a long trek like that in such a long time!
Back in 2015 when my company had a “walk-a-thon”, I walked a good 100+ miles within two months. I walked in the morning, during lunch, and after work in the early evening. It was still light out in the evenings, so I walked at least 1-2 times a day.
Talk Less, Walk Often, Reflect Frequently
It was invigorating. I could just BE. I could think and reflect and clear my mind. Just like in college, where I had a beautiful, 3-mile lake to walk around a couple times a week. I walked until I felt I ventured out far enough.
I heard myself saying the same things I did during the walk-a-thon. The best thing about walking is…it’s just me. I’m depending 100% on me. That goes for anyone. If you decide to walk from your house to Publix, and your friends or family isn’t around to give you a ride, if you get tired or stranded, it’s all up to you. If it rains, it’s still up to you to get back.
Today it was just me and my feet. If I was too tired, then that was too bad! Sure, I thought of some goofy scenarios on my way, thinking about asking police officers who zoomed by for a ride when the sun was beating down on me and my legs were feeling tired. But there was no way I would give up like that.
Our body and our minds are very powerful. We can free ourselves, we can travel, we can get to know ourselves better, just by walking for a little bit. We spend so much time interacting with other people, it’s easy to forget that our well-being and our quiet time is still extremely important.
So if you’re having a bad day, or you feel down about something, take a walk. Take a walk outside if you can, if it’s not snowing or raining. Let your mind run free, and let your feet do the talking.
~Twentysomething Vision