As I started my Just 10 walk this beautiful, summer Saturday, I didn't expect the walk itself to be my topic. Yet, the act of walking sat at the center of my thoughts. Walking became more than walking. This is what I discovered beneath the ordinary act of putting one foot in front of another. I found that beyond my walk wisdom waits.
I love the idea of walking but I don't always enjoy the reality. Along the way there are usually several points at which I just want to turn back. My feet hurt. My back hurts. I'm tired. I don't feel like walking. Fortunately, my body is wiser than I am and it keeps going.
This morning I was doing a lot of protesting. A back injury in my thirties left me with some nerve damage in my legs. Many a morn my legs seem to be going a different directions than the rest of my torso. A lovely bout of shingles this last year added a dimension of imbalance to my already wobbly legs. Often the world spins at a dizzy rate and I struggle to hold on. Some days I leave the house feeling that I must look like a drunken Raggedy Ann or old marionette with some evil puppet master pulling the strings. If I got stuck thinking about what other might be thinking, I'd never leave the house.
This morning my legs were busy doing an odd sloppy lurch. I wanted to turn back but my body was smart enough to keep moving forward. I thought about how easy it is to take walking for granted. It's really much more complicated than it seems. Some times we don't appreciate something until it's taken from us. For a moment, I wanted to indulge in self-pity. "Why does everything have to be so hard?" I moaned.
My body replied, "What are you talking about? Hard? I'm the one doing the work. This isn't so bad.
When I feel dizzy, I pick a point on the horizon. I focus on that and concentrate on balancing and walking. I think I'm doing just fine. Considering your age and what's happened to you, you're doing pretty well. Now, stop complaining and get moving!"
I had to smile. My body is a lot smarter than I am sometimes. I thought about all the things that slow me down in life. I thought about how my body has compensated for what it lacks and how it gets by. I thought of how all the injuries, "the slings and arrows of outrageous misfortune" have changed me. It isn't always for the worse. In fact, these slings and arrows, while painful have been valuable opportunities. They have taught me how much I have to be grateful for and how amazing I can be.
My walk today was so much more than a walk. It took me to a place I never expected to reach.
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