Walking.

If you flashback to me in late March, early April, you'd see a very unstable person. I wasn't sleeping, I was stressed, I was scared, I was anxious...just like everyone else in the world. And the sleeping was my biggest issue. I have never had trouble falling asleep and staying asleep. But why was that now a problem? And I realized, it was because I wasn't exhausting myself anymore. No more getting up at 6:15 to rush around getting ready, driving to work and then having to be on at work + whatever after-work commitments I had any given day (and there were usually a lot). So, how was I going to remedy this? I decided I would start walking, not as a lose weight deal, just as a thing to keep me sane. 

Well, it has been nine months and I've walked almost every single day. As of yesterday I've walked 1,011.93 miles since April 25, 2020. That's like 17,000+ football fields. It's like walking from Tallahassee, FL to Austin, TX. It's like walking from Madrid, Spain to the capital of all things EU, The Hague. Basically, it's a lot of miles! 

I missed six days in August because I was sick, two days in September due to the fires raging in Colorado, four days in October because Marcus visited and fires, three days in November associated with travel and two days in December for no good reason. So, 17 days out of 288 I missed. 

I'm not saying any of those stats to flex on y'all (ha!) but I just want to let you know that it is possible to get out there and just walk. I think for so long my perception of walking was working out to lose weight. But that's not how I look at it now. Walking is something I do for my mental health. It's something I do because it brings me immense joy. If I lose weight or tone up my muscles that is just an added bonus. Walking helped me get back to me during this incredibly rough year. 

Has anything really helped you? — xoxo darling, Hayden