Good for Body, Mind and Soul by patcelaw |
Walking; Good for Body, Mind and Soul From my early childhood years, I have enjoyed walking. As a student in elementary school, I had to walk two-one half miles to and from school. This was very good for my body as I was developing strong legs, bones, healthy lungs and excellent weight control. I walked all those miles for the first seven years of my school years. After the seventh grade our family moved to a small town, so from the eight grade through my first two years in high school, it was a short walk across the street to the bus stop. Again we moved and I had a longer walk to and from school, my junior and senior years of high school, walking about two miles to and from school each day. I walked quite a few miles when I was in basic training as a private in the women's army. My military career was cut short and I returned to my home. I still did a lot of walking because I had not yet learned to drive, which came after I married and my husband Wayne, taught me to drive. Walking was and still is a pleasure for me. On several occasions I put myself on a walking program to help me physically. One of these happened after I had suffered from pancreatitis and was in so much pain that I could hardly walk across our small home for eight months. With the physical difficulties I was experiencing my doctor issued me a placard to hang in my car for use at the handicapped spots in parking lots. When I got the placard for the motor vehicle department, I told the attendant when I not longer needed the placard I would return it to the DMV. Finally, at the end of eight months I was feeling better and began a walking program, beginning by walking around the block several times a day and then moving to walking one mile, the moved to walking two miles each day. After I had been able to walk thirty-two miles in a couple of weeks, I did return the placard to the DMV, even though it was good for me to use for six years. When I returned the placard so soon the attendant at the DMV was amazed I would return it. During the next 16 months I walked about twelve hundred miles, and lost over sixty pounds. Fast forward with me to the year I celebrated my eightieth birthday, I had moved to Glendale, Arizona to live with my daughter. I had to move from my home in New Mexico because I was beginning to lose my vision and could no longer drive and was physically so out of shape that it was hard to walk across our home. I went on a diet and began to lose weight. After having lost about forty pounds, I once again began a walking program that had been placed on my cell phone, by my dear son-in-law. He placed it on my phone in October of 2018. Each month I tried to increase my walking. My resolution for the year of 2020 was to walk at least 100 miles a month for the entire year. At the end of 2020 I will have walked well over 1300 miles. -Patricia Lawrence 11-4-20
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patcelaw
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