Do you have an activity that gives you joy irrespective of your frame of mind? Yes, fantastic! No? Get one! Fortunately, I have one. An activity that is such a great stress buster. It does not need anything. You just need to get out of your house. Just go on and on, without looking back. Yes, the activity I am referring to is walking.
My mom goes walking, my dad goes walking, my grandparents walk whenever they can. Almost everyone in my family has a reliable mode of transport: walking. As a kid, I used to love walking at night, with my family. As I write this, I am getting pretty nostalgic about those moments. Heck, the number of times I used to meet some friends who reminded me of some homework to be submitted the next day, and I forgot about it, and going home to finish it!
In college, I used to walk all the time. The length and breadth of our campus pretty much forced us to! But I used to enjoy it. Mostly with friends, but sometimes alone as well. I had no qualms about being alone. Just put on earphones, play some soothing music, and go! So easy, so refreshing, so rewarding.
They say old habits die hard. When I was in Malaysia for my internship, we used to stay in a complex which was built around a golf resort. A proper international level 19 hole course. I used to go walking on the course in the evening after coming back from office. I was so obsessed with this seemingly easy but brilliant exercise, I used to go back home drenched in sweat and rain, but totally satisfied. Walking on the grass was not allowed, but we used to do it anyway. You just had to remove your shoes, and calmly walk on the soft, dewy grass, and at once you would forget all your troubles, and enjoy the surroundings. Man, I miss those days so badly!
In Hyderabad though, I couldn’t walk much. The place I stay doesn’t have any parks or playgrounds. There are just wide roads with a lot of traffic. There is one campus though, but too small for my liking. But I just got tired of doing nothing, and decided to walk anyway. When I do go, I walk for 5 kilometers or so. Sometimes, 7 kilometers. But at the night. For some unfathomable reason, I cannot go in the morning. Even at night I am irregular.
I absolutely envy people who begin their day on such a fantastic note. I admit it shamelessly. Just think of this scenario: Walking on grass at 5:30 in the morning, birds chirping, the sun just coming out, no pollution, a cool breeze, and warm music. Ah! I just hope the people who do go regularly, keep it up. Maybe one fine day, I too will go with them, and enjoy.
I almost forgot the biggest advantage of walking: the time you get to think, to reflect, to introspect! This time is just absolutely invaluable in my opinion. Countless times, whenever I felt sad or angry or confused or distraught, I just took a walk, saw my troubles vanish away for the time being, and felt so relaxed. What beats this?
These very thoughts would not have been possible had I not taken a walk yesterday. So, now I am crediting the walk to remind me to write about walking! Here's to more walks and more joy! A walk to remember.(Nope, I haven't seen the movie :P )
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