The journey of a thousand steps

 

How about ten thousand?

Twenty?

Twenty thousand steps. Are you ready for twenty thousand steps?

Earlier today I went out for a short walk. Very hot day. Only wanted to add something different to some exercise I did in the house and switch things up a bit. (Treadmills and ankle weights are fine, but switching it up once in a while and getting outside is a great thing.) Still… managed to bring about two-thousand steps to the rest of my work for the day.

Didn’t take long. Like I said, it was hot out. But it did get me wondering.

The estimates place two thousand steps as the number most people will take to walk a mile. Other averages say people visiting a Disney theme park will hit about fourteen to eighteen thousand steps during the day.

Now, I’ve got to tell you, I’ve been to Disney parks. Different smartphones and even pedometers used by friends have said I’ve turned in well over 15,000 steps and covered several miles on those days.

It did not feel like I turned in enough steps during that short walk today where doing the same seven or eight more times would match a day at the Magic Kingdom or Hollywood Studios.

For me, I think a lot of it comes down to motivation. Kind of a personal reward system. Eight hundred steps to the Haunted Mansion? No problem. Thirty steps to get to the end of the driveway with the trash? Exhausting.

There are plenty of sayings—many cliches—that are based on the concept of momentum. Doesn’t matter the destination and doesn’t matter how far. To get there, you still need to begin moving. You have to cover the first mile. You have to take the first step. Wise advice in those thoughts.

And yet I often wonder about the journey.

Is it hot out? Cold? Sunshine, rain or snow? I can definitely cover more ground at around sixty-eight degrees, partly cloudy, wearing shorts and sneakers than I ever will if its ninety-five and full sun or twenty-five while wearing boots and trudging through fourteen inches of snow.

(Since I’m not walking to school or talking to my kids, I do recognize that walk in the snow isn’t uphill both ways.)

And what’s the end of the journey? Haunted Mansion is all well and good, but maybe we need something a little more everyday in place. Am I walking to work? The post office? Just out for an evening stroll to get some fresh air?

I accept that getting started can be the hardest part. It’s not just a concession to momentum, it’s a recognition that inertia can be a pain in the backside.

What I also realize from watching my smartphone apps is that a thousand steps is, on its own, not as far as you might think.

 

If you have any comments or questions, please e-mail me at Bob@inmybackpack.com