Walking with Gratitude Joyce Moseley PierceDuring this season of gratitude and thanksgiving, I wanted to write about something we do every day with very little thought. Something we’ve been doing since we were very small. Most of us did it before we even talked. I’m talking about walking.
The way I see it, there are basically four reasons we walk
1.Travel – To get from one place to another. We don’t even think about getting up each morning and walking from our bed to
bathroom, but I watched my elderly grandmother as an invalid for many years and gained an appreciation for my ability to get up and go wherever I wanted without help from anyone else.
2.Pleasure – I remember taking walks with my grandfather and my dad as a child, and that tradition has continued with my own grandkids. When grandkids come to visit, they love to walk down to lake in our neighborhood to feed ducks. Part of enjoyment, I believe, is just being away from everyone else. We walk, we talk, and we just enjoy one another’s company. When I was in Las Vegas for birth of a new granddaughter, I walked other two kids to school one day. My granddaughter, Olivia, who was 5 at time, stopped other kids along way to say, “My grandma is walking me to school.” She was so proud, and I am so thankful to have health to be able to walk with her.
3.Exercise – Walking is one of best ways to exercise. You can walk at pace you need to reach desired heart rate. All you need is a pair of good walking shoes. No clubs to join. No classes to attend. You can walk during day or at night. Inside or out. In mall or on a treadmill. If you need more of a challenge, you can carry a backpack with additional weight, or you can swing your arms to raise your heartrate. You will find that your legs have to move as fast as your arms. Even if you’re uncoordinated, it is impossible for your legs not to follow your arms. Try it.
