Counting My Steps

It's amazing to see how many steps you take in a day. It's even more shocking to see how many steps you DON'T take in a day. My office has been doing this wellness challenge. Everyone in the office has been issued a pedometer and the office has been split up into teams. Each team member reports to the team captain the totals on their pedometer each day and the first team to collectively walk a certain number of miles wins a prize. I honestly am not the most motivated team member. I really couldn't care less if I won free Jimmy Johns or a $25 Walmart gift card. However, it is amazing how motivating that little pedometer can be.

When you reach the end of the day and look and see that you have only taken 2,000 steps, it can be pretty degrading and a great motivator to get out there and go for a walk/run/whatever. So I have been making an effort to walk more. An injury I had in High School doesn't allow me to run without suffering from some serious back pain, so I just briskly walk. I have noticed a big difference between the days when I go for my walks and the days I don't. My mood is better, I feel more accomplished, energized and I go to bed with a smile on my face.

Walking is also a really great way to take time to ponder. If you read my last post, you already know that I do not own an iPod, so when I walk I take the opportunity to clear my head, then just think and ponder and make decisions and observations. One observation I made today is that walking and making the effort to at least do a little exercise fills the void that I've had ever since I graduated and stopped dancing. Dance has been such a big part of my life and now that it's gone (at least for now) I can feel it physically and emotionally. But walking helps at least a little bit to fill that void and get me out and moving again. So I urge everyone to get out there and be more active! Or at least get a pedometer....

On a lighter note, as of a couple weeks ago, I am now a Utah-licensed driver....Though I Refuse to drive like one. Period. But I am pretty sure that those who work at DMVs have some kind of code that states "Make sure that the photo on the license is as unflattering as humanly possible. No exceptions, no limits." Or something to that effect, because I definitely look DRUNK in my photo. And I was so excited to finally have a "good" license photo. Oh well. Guess I have to wait another 5 years.