Just about the greatest gift I've even given myself during any particular work day has been the 3 O'clock Walk. It's pretty self-explanatory really. I try as much as possible to each day get my arse up and away from my desk and take a walk. It's that simple. Doesn't wound like much, but some days it means the world to me. Some days, when my head is about to pop off from the pressure and stress that's pounding and pounding and pounding because I can't seem to understand this or that bit of logic, the 3 O'clock is my salvation. Some days, when the noise that is surrounding me keeps growing steadily more pronounced and omnipresent and incessant and is working on my last nerve, that walk is the cure to all those apparent realities.
I'm a big fan of walks in general. I have been going back to my first reading of "Cancer Ward." I took a great many things away from that book, but high up on the list was not only the importance of a walk, but how to walk with intention. That was roughly 25 years ago, and I can honestly say there haven't been too many walks since down some sidewalk, roadway, or path, beaten or otherwise, in which I haven't thought about Oleg and the walks he took in "Cancer Ward" and how he took them. I've found that Oleg was correct: A man does think more clearly and with more intent when he walks with his hands clasped behind his back. His ears do open. His busy, complex thoughts do become less so. His preoccupations do tend to fade into the background, like dust in a steady rain.
I'm a slow walker. I love walking with companions, and often prefer it to walking alone, but I've found that no matter who I'm walking with, I have trouble keeping up. My slow feet interfere. My problem is that I'm not in a particular hurry to get anywhere usually, so I fall behind. About the only people I don't have trouble matching pace with are small kids, and even then they are too quick for my feet quite often. But the fact that I tend to meander doesn't really bother me. I see and sense and feel more things the slower I go. I'm not burning a whole of calories I imagine, but I don't walk to burn calories. I walk so that I don't have to think about those kind of things, the things that make life complex and overly complicated. I don't walk to work out problems. I walk so that I can forget about them. I don't walk to escape. I walk so that I can see to new visions. I don't walk to accomplish anything. I just walk to walk. Sometimes, that simplicity is all that's required. It's all that I need.
I'm convinced there have been days when I wouldn't have made it through without the 3 O'clock Walk. I would have melted down. I would have lost touch. Maybe that speaks to my focus and discipline, or lack thereof. Maybe the fact that I can recognize that I need to get away, if even for a few minutes, speaks more to the fact that I know my limitations and have found a way to work around them. I don't know. What I do know is that after the walk, I feel better. I feel refreshed. I feel I've stepped on better, more stable ground. Some days I wish I could just walk on forever.
I'm a big fan of walks in general. I have been going back to my first reading of "Cancer Ward." I took a great many things away from that book, but high up on the list was not only the importance of a walk, but how to walk with intention. That was roughly 25 years ago, and I can honestly say there haven't been too many walks since down some sidewalk, roadway, or path, beaten or otherwise, in which I haven't thought about Oleg and the walks he took in "Cancer Ward" and how he took them. I've found that Oleg was correct: A man does think more clearly and with more intent when he walks with his hands clasped behind his back. His ears do open. His busy, complex thoughts do become less so. His preoccupations do tend to fade into the background, like dust in a steady rain.
I'm a slow walker. I love walking with companions, and often prefer it to walking alone, but I've found that no matter who I'm walking with, I have trouble keeping up. My slow feet interfere. My problem is that I'm not in a particular hurry to get anywhere usually, so I fall behind. About the only people I don't have trouble matching pace with are small kids, and even then they are too quick for my feet quite often. But the fact that I tend to meander doesn't really bother me. I see and sense and feel more things the slower I go. I'm not burning a whole of calories I imagine, but I don't walk to burn calories. I walk so that I don't have to think about those kind of things, the things that make life complex and overly complicated. I don't walk to work out problems. I walk so that I can forget about them. I don't walk to escape. I walk so that I can see to new visions. I don't walk to accomplish anything. I just walk to walk. Sometimes, that simplicity is all that's required. It's all that I need.
I'm convinced there have been days when I wouldn't have made it through without the 3 O'clock Walk. I would have melted down. I would have lost touch. Maybe that speaks to my focus and discipline, or lack thereof. Maybe the fact that I can recognize that I need to get away, if even for a few minutes, speaks more to the fact that I know my limitations and have found a way to work around them. I don't know. What I do know is that after the walk, I feel better. I feel refreshed. I feel I've stepped on better, more stable ground. Some days I wish I could just walk on forever.
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