Thinking of life and fitness as a walk in the woods can be a helpful perspective on your journey. It's harder than a walk in a park but can still be enjoyable.
Main take aways:
Care for and allow your mind and body to do what they will do, but don’t allow either to yank you along. Live to see, accept and learn from each moment. You cannot get lost if you only want to be where you are. You will not go in circles if you are open and allow yourself to evolve.
The scene: “You’re walking in the woods. There is no one around and your phone is dead…” (If you recognize the quote, great! If not, no worries, the message is the same.)
You have two dogs with you: one is your mind, the other is your body. You’ve never been down this path but others have vaguely described what to anticipate and what they’ve done along the way. All you know is from what you’ve experienced so far and you're learning more about the area as you go. Your encounters depend on the path you choose and the speed of your stride. There are several twists, turns, branches, and forks in the path. At any time you could stumble upon a beautiful view or a scary snake.
The analogy: You are you. One dog is brown- your mind and the other is gray-your body. The woods are your life; made up of countless dynamic and interdependent factors.
The experience of this walk is entirely up to you. Let me explain with a few examples;
- If you have your dogs on leashes, one or both might be yanking you along, sporadically running ahead or stopping in their tracks to investigate if and when anything captures their attention. They may even start to interact and the leashes twist into a knot. If the brown dog goes down a path, you and the other dog must deal with whatever comes. Sometimes the gray dog will also pull you in another direction. This does not seem very enjoyable. Living like this would not only be extremely tiring and unpleasant but it would also hinder your ability to see your surroundings clearly enough to maintain your bearings.
- Solution: Love each dog in a way that fosters mutual trust and acceptance, creating freedom for all three of you. Keep your dogs healthy and happy, by meeting their needs and allowing them to explore, accepting when they wander, stop and sniff. Learn each dog's needs and meet them so illness does not yank you along or hold you back. With enough trust, you can get go of the leash; your body and mind will still be a part of your journey. Relish in the relief of not being pulled along and in the freedom of choosing paths for yourself.
- If you adopt the attitude that you are walking only as a means to get to your destination, focusing on where you will be in the future will prevent you from seeing and learning from your surroundings in the present. Grasping onto where you think you want to be invites the frustration of getting lost.
- Solution: Walk with curiosity, observing and accepting where you currently are. You cannot be lost because you are not attached to a place. This allows you to make wise decisions as situations arise with the peace of mind that comes from realizing many options are acceptable. If you are present when you come to a fork in the road, you can clearly assess each option according to the current moment. You could be fatigued and one path is a steep incline and the other is more winding; the choice is clear if you accept the way you feel.
- A similar situation, with a different mindset could be walking to put distance between what you’ve passed (your past) and you. Focusing on where you have been will keep you from growing and evolving with new experiences. This invites the frustration of feeling that you are walking in circles if you find yourself in a similar situation because you will not have evolved to respond in a different way which could lead elsewhere. You will continue in circles until you open yourself to change.
- Solution: Walk with curiosity, observing and accepting where you currently are. You will not walk in circles in repeated situations because you will no longer be the same person you were the last time.
It is not my intention to change your beliefs, only to expand your perspective and encourage you to live fully.
Bonus thoughts:
If you trip on a root while taking your walk, do you get upset at the root? Do you think less of yourself? Does it ruin the walk? I hope not. In fact I hope you can laugh at yourself. Similarly, if you make a mistake or something disrupts your life, why get upset with the situation?
Are you race walking? Who is your competition? Go at your own pace. Stop and rest when you need it. It is not lazy if you rest to recover and return better able to handle the work. Pausing is only negative if you stop completely or because you are afraid of the unknown.
