At first I thought I was experiencing delayed jet lag in late May and early June (which was WAY too long after my return from Spain, I scolded myself!) Or, was it just a general and natural let down from my whirlwind adventures abroad? What I had realized was that I could not motivate myself to rise at my usual daybreak hour to get my body to the gym. I mean seriously!! I have been an early riser ALL OF MY LIFE and it has been reliably easy for me to get up at the crack of dawn, especially in the spring. I also truly enjoy “working out” and prefer morning for that as well. So what was the deal, I kept asking myself?
Now that a couple of weeks have turned into a couple of months, I believe I have finally arrived at an answer. I suspect that I am under a sleeping spell!! I have noticed that if I don’t get up upon awakening, then I will start thinking about how comfortable I am, how the pillow feels perfect, how cold the air outside the blanket is… and fall back to sleep! I have heard people talk for years about hitting the “snooze” button, laying in bed awhile (my husband does this), sleeping in on weekends – and I have never really been able to relate. In fact I haven’t used an alarm for decades. Now I understand what happens – there is a spell that takes over and its impossible to break free of it!!! With this epiphany helping me to recognizing what I’m dealing with, tomorrow I hope to JUMP OUT OF BED before the spell takes hold. Plan to see me at the gym!!!
In spite of that, over the last 16 days I was able to credit five visits to the gym for a total 20 miles of treadmill time. Delighting in our Splendid Pacific Northwest weather, I also accumulated just over 70 miles strolling around running errands, meeting up with friends and their dogs, enjoying long and short walks about town, into the woods, through neighborhoods, a couple of additional forays across the 520 bridge which spans Lake Washington and getting “dog fixes” at a couple of canine parks!
My friends and family call me crazy, yet it is SUCH A JOY to walk and walk and walk! And to find ways to accomplish tasks without a car. Several of my jaunts were lengthy alternatives to real appointments and meetings that surely would have routinely been accomplished by jumping into my vehicle as if by second nature. Yet I have discovered tremendous satisfaction on several levels when I choose to navigate on foot. This intentional setting out as a pedestrian is coloring my life, my living and my being a part of the world around me. I love choosing this approach instead of just plugging pieces into MY PRIORITIES to get from Point A to Z and from day to day and week to week, under “automatic pilot” which can get to feeling choice less. In that self perpetuating scenario, eventually time just seems a non negotiable commodity of such value that its toll in the loss column is lamentable and even gut wrenching.
So many who undertake “The Camino” are entrenched in some type of day to day trapping of their own making. They set out on “The Way” and learn much about themselves and most assuredly undertake self examination of where they are, where they have been and where they are going. And then they likely consider how they feel about the answers that come up. Having substantial banks of time allows for this reflection. Now that I have completed two “portions” of the Camino, about 230 miles each, I am finding that my revelations are quite late in coming and only recently have I experienced the most illuminating “Ah Ha’s”… I have been ruminating on several and though they are fresh and foremost in my mind, I believe that I will think on them a bit before sharing my conclusions
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Needless to say, much of my considerable walking, though enjoyable and evolutionary in its own right, is about training for my Next Camino – for which I leave Washington on July 31st and undertake walking the Camino Frances beginning on August 10th. Five hundred miles with Day one being an ascent over the Great Pyrenees Mountains!!! Hip hip Hooray!!!
In conclusion, after an 8 1/2 mile walk from my condo to the baseball fields in Woodinville where my Hubby was hosting a Little League tournament, he and I enjoyed a lovely evening of “Woodinville Wine” appreciation, a Fabulous dinner at the “Barking Frog” and a Staycation at the Lavish “Willows Lodge”. Life is Good!!
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