Daily Walking And Awe-Inspiring Longer Living!

 At the start of lockdown, like most people in the UK, Flyfour and I would go for a walk each day. Actually, we decided to go for a walk each evening as we figured there was less chance of bumping into people and we could guarantee that we'd be free after our evening meal.

As lockdown went on, and we were back at work more frequently we slowly fell out of the habit, but then a few weeks ago we somehow mutually agreed, without talking about it, that we should get back into the habit. That we should walk each day we were home and we agreed that we would spend this time talking together, catching up with one another and telling each other about our day and about things we'd heard or seen or had been thinking about and that we'd go even if it was raining. Only it didn't rain on any of the times or days that we were walking (If Flyfour is staying in Bristol, we don't walk together and it did rain on a couple of those evenings) so we were feeling a little lucky.

One evening as we were walking, Flyfour mentioned that he'd heard an article on the radio that morning about how people who found something awe-inspiring to see each day lived longer. So we decided to be better with looking at all the things that were around us that would be awe-inspring.

We'd spot the flowers in our neighbours garden, we'd see the fairy lights strung in trees or around playhouses in various gardens we passed, we'd giggle as we overheard parts of conversations that we wished we could hear more than just a brief snippet of, we'd look at the stars and the planets and see the way the sky changed colour. We'd look at each other and be amazed at how lucky we each are to have each other.

And so we've been walking each night, spotting things to look at. Growing closer by talking together, sharing ideas and thoughts and plans. We've shared our hopes and fears, our joys and pains, our moments of laughter and disappointment.

We've surprised ourselves by walking further each night, and not realising that what we were walking was further than we thought ( we do about three miles each evening on what we call our short walk!) and love seeing familiar things, such as neighbours working on their cars or seeing the Avon lady deliver packages to her customers, or the people who walk their dogs, or the man who we pass twice on his evening jog.

I can't say if Flyfour or I are living longer than we were supposed to because of the things we spot. I do think that we are developing better observational skills, that we are sharing more and growing closer together. That we are getting fitter and healthier and seeing as we have managed a walk in the rain, we hope that we are going to have a much healthier winter!