Walk a Mile
Experts say the average person should walk five miles every day, which adds up to 10,000 steps per day. How many people do you think actually walk five miles every day? I know I don’t even come close to five miles a day. I do, however, travel many places in a day: down the street, through my mind, around the grocery store and up the driveway. Your feet will take you many places if you let them.
As soon as that bell rings, I’m out the door and on the sidewalk as fast as humanly possible. That trip to Ray’s happens everyday, and it’s always the same, but it’s never boring. There is little time to think on the walk, other than, ‘Oh my gosh, could Tokar possibly walk any faster?’ After giving up any hope of catching my breath, I begin to notice the people around me. I can hear the cheerleaders behind me gossiping about their boyfriends and how they never do anything quite right. Across the street, the curb suckers, who take up the whole sidewalk, are standing atop their own spit. Hanging about them is a giant cloud of cigarette smoke that could give you lung cancer just from walking by. Up the street, there is a senior center. The old men and women walk about the parking lot and smile at you the way old people do that gives you that warm and fuzzy feeling inside. Around the curb suckers, through the crowd and past the senior center is the trip to Ray’s…. always the same, but never boring.
My next journey is unlike any other. Twenty minutes I’m on that machine, running in place and, just like the tread under my feet, the tread in my mind just won’t stop. First I’m running through the jungles of Africa trying to escape from a blood thirsty lion desperate for flesh. Then I’m off to Pamplona, Spain to run with the bulls. Finally, I’m in Sydney, Australia for a cool down walk along its misty beaches. Nothing keeps me going during those twenty minutes better than a mental escape. I’ve been more places during than those twenty minutes than there are stars in the sky.
After the gym, I’m off to the grocery store. Up and down the aisles I go, and while some hate it and call it a waste of time, I love the walk called grocery shopping. As I walk past the dog food and through the meat department, I am overwhelmed by the endless possibilities. Whether it’s a chicken ceasar salad or a hearty steak, anything I want is all there, stacked in nice, tidy rows, everything in its place. After packing my groceries nicely in their bags, I feel as if I’ve earned the delicious meal I’ll make with these groceries.
Finally, my day is done, and I’m almost home. I put the car in park, gather up all of my things and try to balance it on the way to the door. Not only am I trying not to drop anything, but I’m also tying not to trip on any of our dog’s many toys. Her toys are spread from one end of the property to the other, and they’re all Christmas toys, which is a little embarrassing in mid- July. Though the driveway is a mess and I need two extra arms to carry all of my stuff, nothing beats the feeling of being home and getting to rest my exhausted feet.
Even though my feet ache by the end of the day, I love the journey they take me on every day, even if it is just down the sidewalk, through my mind, around the grocery store and up the driveway. Nothing beats the feeling of a walk through town or around the world.