A WALK IN THE PARK

Every time that Janet and I walk outdoors, it isn’t always a training type of walk.  We often walk outdoors as a healthy means to deprogram or erase from our minds all that clutters and clouds our ability to think clearly and logically.
  
Let’s face it, we who hype ourselves as being self-disciplined and in total control, a joke by itself, are constantly being bombarded with negatives that would depress even the most saintly amongst us. 

Something must reverse this blathering of mind junk. And in my opinion, walking while appreciating all that has been provided for us is the perfect method.

Take yesterday for instance.  Dressed only in running shorts and matching sleeveless tops, Janet and I began walking across the street to our hospital’s fitness center.  Half way there, right when we began walking alongside our neighborhood’s man-made, tropical-themed lake, we began committing to one another what a beautiful day it was.  The sky was perfectly clear and the temperature was in the mid-sixties.  It wasn’t difficult to convince my lovely wife that a change of plans was forthcoming and necessary. 

Instead of walking to the gym and doing an indoor gym workout, which would have taken our bodies out of the perfect outdoors, we continued straight eventually crossing busy Flamingo Road at the crosswalk and traffic signal.  We then ended up walking four miles in our beautiful county park, a park whose entrance is exactly ½ mile from our home. 

We didn’t walk fast, only at a pace that was comfortable and agreeable. 

We loved it!  We cherished every moment  walking along the many curved pathways, across the wooden pedestrian bridges, next to the lake’s pristine shoreline, through the travel trailer section where many visitors from Canada were still displaying their country’s flag in celebration of their hockey team’s victory, and down the west roadway that parallels an elementary school that is located just across the canal and fence. 

We committed on the many children in the playground laughing and singing without a care in the world.  The children made us smile, consequently offering us a brief sense of solace.  We were in effect being deprogrammed.  The purpose of the walk was working as planned.      

There was a lesson learned during yesterday’s ideal mind-clearing walk, and that lesson is that we need to be more like children - for it may be our only clear path to lasting sanity.

Feeling transformed and invigorated, we later complimented our restful walk with a hardy breakfast of eggs and hot oatmeal topped with fresh blueberries.