My friend Kris has become one of my regular walking buddies. She short like me but moves fast so she and I are able to walk at a comparable rate. We typically walk on Sundays and try to get in another walk during the week, depending on our schedules. She's also a biker.
Recently Kris fell and suffered a serious injury to her knee, requiring stitches which became infected, swelling, and a lot of pain. Still, she realized that babying herself or her knee was not the best thing she could do. Despite the fact that she couldn't bend her knee to allow a proper stride, she wanted to walk.
So, I let her establish our pace and determine how long we'd walk. I actually had to put the brakes on so she wouldn't push herself too far.
What's right about what Kris did? First, she was determined to continue her stress-relieving walks but she listened to her body and didn't overdo. She iced and rested but she didn't allow her knee to swell up more with disuse and stiffen. She used painkillers sparingly, just enough to allow her mobility.
I admire Kris' determination. Her gentle walking increased blood flow to the injured knee and hastened healing despite the setbacks of a stitch infection and swelling. Now that the infection is under control and the swelling has almost disappeared, she's pretty much back to her normal speed and duration of exercise. Had she remained on the sofa or at her desk for the past two weeks, she would have had to work diligently to regain her endurance and speed.
There's a lesson here for all of us. There will always be things to hold us back. Chores, people, laziness, lethargy, pain. If we let these things determine how we live our lives, we are not able to live the best life. In the moment, it's often difficult to figure out how to take care of ourselves. That's why it's best to have a plan in place, a daily and weekly plan, that includes time for walking or other exercise that you can and will do on a regular basis. Walking and dancing are the two for me. What's on your list for yourself?
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Remember my 100% GUARANTEE. Should you decide to stop walking and resume your old habits, I personally guarantee that you'll get back 100% of your former life - your pain, your lifestyle, your attitude. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.
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1 comment:
Hello JD!
This article you wrote is so true - it does take some willpower to keep walking despite injury, schedule and so on.
8 years ago I thought i was ready for running my first marathon. 2 days later I had an accident in mountains and damaged 2/3 of my knee meniscus for both legs, it required urgent operation. Before signing up for it, I went to my meditation teacher. She told me to wait with operation and stop running for the next few years (I was used to run daily and loved it). So, all I could do was to walk. Very short distances in the beginning. After some months, I could walk half an hour to office. In a year I could walk 1 hour without pain. In 2.5 years I kept walking as much as possible and restarted running, veeeery slowly.
Since then I can run again and I gladly do. However, I still walk a lot, a lot more than I run. In fact - walking is what helped me to recover my knee. I feel so well that I never got any operation. And I have done my half marathon runs without any pain or any knee treatment. Just lots of patience and walking.
After the accident I was deeply upset that I could not run anymore. However, what I gained was much more - countless hours of pleasure - being out in nature and fully enjoying each season. I got to love walking so much that after the birth of my child I was out for a walk on the 5th day, and it helped me to recover like nothing else. We are out for daily walks every day since then :-)
And now I must stop my lengthy comment because it is time to go out for a walk.
Just one thing - whenever I have a bad mood - I know, it´s because I have been too busy doing anything else and neglecting my daily walks. So I do my best to avoid making such mistake (but I still make it once in a while).
Wishing you a wonderful walk today!
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