The Secret Art of Sanpo

[Rusty Claymore]

Or in English: "Going for a Walk."

Maybe I am alone in this, but why is it so difficult to take a stroll?

"Ah, this weather is nice. I should take a walk." And that's as far as it goes. Immediately every excuse under the sun comes to my aid in resisting such a ridiculous demand on my resources and time. "I've been through here before and there's nothing new." Is somehow a satisfactory reason to not go on a walk, but not a factor as I sit and farm in a video game. Even the momentum gained from stepping off that oh-so-well-meaning bathroom scale won't get me to the door. More often than not, I've found myself spending 20 minutes contemplating whether or not a 20 minute walk is really worth diverting my precious time to. I've probably spent over 20 minutes writing this post, which I could've easily written after I'd gone for a walk.

Probably a lame topic, but why not?

What helps you get out for a bit? Or what excuses have you found yourself acquiescing to?

I've found that informing someone I'm about to go out gives me a little extra push. But equally dissuading are thoughts on how awkward it is to overtake someone walking in the same direction, or passing someone heading the opposite way. (When are you supposed to make eye contact, anyway?!?)

So, *ahem* - I am going for a walk.

Probably.

[anlptgtsg]

lol I sometimes go on for a stroll. I can do it regularly but lazy. My excuse would probably maybe I walk outside too much and my knees will be very weak when I'm old. Anyway something that encourage me to walk is the peace and quiet I get when I do. I get what there is nothing new so I try to go in different path when I can. Though I rarely stroll anymore XD. But walking to church is a weekly thing but it's not a stroll it's just I should walk faster XD.

[Okami]

I personally love going on walks...
It was something I did a little of in high school (primarily walking to the front of the trailer park to get mail), but did more of as I entered college.

Because there was a trail close to school, I would often find myself on it to get away from the stresses of dorm life and homework, sometimes jogging, but mostly walking (i am NOT athletic. XD)... it was a trail connected to a park and also had a offshoot leading to the mall (aka WONDERFUL, even though I was broke lol). 

My roommate and I would often go through a nearby neighborhood together for midnight walks, which had a space leading into the trail, to give her a place to smoke and for us to have ranting/venting sessions (often using words one couldn't use on a Christian campus xD), but otherwise for each other's company and growth of our friendship.  

Which leads to life after college. When I lived at my mom's I often continued the pattern of walking to get the mail. When I lived at my dad's there was a small trail where I would go on nature walks and enjoy the peace of being alone and having that quiet.

This is where I would later end up on Skype/phone calls with my boyfriend when we were in a long-distance (three hours apart) relationship. This was also where he officially asked me to be his girlfriend on our first physical date (he wanted to save the question for then, a month into the relationship).  He would later propose during a walk on a Lake Michigan beach...

To this day Ryosuke and I try to incorporate walking as much as possible...at least once a week, if we can. We have a nice neighborhood near our apartment that we venture into, and this leads down to the river and a park there, which is lovely.  Walking hand in hand is such a great experience! <3

Anyway, enough of my mushiness over my hubby. XD

Walking is just something that comes naturally, I guess. It's more of a relational thing, for the most part - as I've more often than not had friends at my side - than a physical/exercise thing. Like I said, I love it! 

Long post is long, lol. Sorry about that!

[EventualDay]

Cute topic ^_^ When I was a kid I used to hate going outside (bugs + there was no way that sweating was better than air conditioning). So I didn't take walks for fun, haha--just when I was forced to take the dog out around the neighborhood.

Now I run pretty frequently but I still choose the treadmill half the time! Maybe just out of habit? I don't hate the outdoors anymore... but it's still very hot, haha....

Though I really agree with you, Okami, walks are pretty romantic. I like to go on dates to parks now

[Anirac]

I like going for walks because they feel like a treasure hunt for me I like spotting animals, identifying plants, and collecting stuff. I'm a city girl, so it all feels new. My husband's been teaching me what he knows. I've been able to identify a mint plant, an oak tree and a couple maples, and spot a woodpecker, a steller's jay, and a coyote. in those walks I've found 3 Canada goose feathers, 1 crow feather, a prickly pine cone, a tiny acorn, and several rocks, my favourite being a white round one that looks like granite. I had some birch bark but I lost it :/ oh and I have several maple seed pods, the ones that fly like helicopters! Back at home in Brazil I have a little glass vial full of bright red pau-brasil seeds.

[Banana Lobster]

I love going on walks when I can make myself do it. A big part of it is getting away from my siblings when they're bickering, so I usually go alone to just enjoy the peace and quiet. It also helps wake me up when I can get going--I am not a morning person. I prefer to sleep in when I can, but then it drives me crazy because I feel like I'm being lazy. *Sigh*

The most exciting part of it is probably looking up trying to spot the airplanes that I can hear going overhead. Well actually, the most exciting part is probably when a car sneaks up on me. SCARY! Our driveway is pretty long, so I just do laps, instead of going out on the road. Anyways, I usually have to mark on my calendar what days I've walked, partially because I like keeping track of stuff on my calendar (not a lot of stuff gets on there but reminders of people's birthdays and holidays, haha), but also because it seems to help motivate me.

My main excuse for not walking is that it's the hottest hours of the day and I don't do well in heat so I try to stay inside where it's cooler. Like I said before, I am not a morning person, so I struggle to get up early enough to get my walk in before I start studying. And by the end of the day, when I can make time, I've usually forgotten. X(

When I've been doing it for a while, and I have to stop, it drives me CRAZY, because I have all this pent-up energy. But when I can get out and walk, it's just so relaxing and nice. I think it also helps a lot with keeping my temper under control when dealing with my siblings, if I've been able to get outside and find that "Happy Place" where everything is calm. But that's just me.

And am I the only one who has noticed that these are surprisingly long and thought out replies for this odd question? Or is that just me again? Haha!

[Anirac]

And am I the only one who has noticed that these are surprisingly long and thought out replies for this odd question? Or is that just me again? Haha!

Before I posted my reply, it had almost 3 good sized paragraphs XD I shortened it because tl;dr. And because finding a treasure is really the highlight of my walks.

I guess walks make people go into a contemplative mode. It's a break from the routine. My husband was like you, he took walks to escape the noisy siblings (6 kids ). Now we take walks together just to enjoy the day. We go out either early in the morning or at the end of the day; back in Brazil, I had to walk home from university at the hottest hour, when we don't have a shadow. Those were NOT nice walks -.- besides, even God goes for walks in the cooler hours! (Genesis 3:8)

[Sheenar]

Walks are so nice. I miss being able to walk for miles like I used to be able to. I would walk all over campus and walk down to the downtown square in my college town --and walk down to the park and duck pond and the trails there. Walk to the grocery store, etc. I walked almost everywhere.

Now, I'm not able to walk all that far, but use my scooter or wheelchair for distances. I don't do well in the heat or in the cold, so I go out in the cool parts of the day and try to limit my exposure to temperature extremes. I now have a dog again, so I have to go out several times a day. During the cooler times, our walks are a little longer, but during the hot parts of the day, it's just a quick out and back in.

On nice days, I like to ride around on my scooter in the neighborhood and take photos of flowers, plants, wildlife, etc. There's a nice pond down the trail from my apartment that is nice to go to early in the morning when there's no one around. I watched the sun rise there the other day with Zeus.

Most days, though, I have a hard time getting going early enough to go out for a long ride/walk before it starts getting hot. I don't like going out when it's dark, but during the twilight or early dawn time.

[ClaecElric4God]

I feel your pain, Rusty. For me it's annoying because I know I love walks, and I know if I just go out and do it I'll be glad I pushed myself and did it; but I seldom actually do. Sometimes if I'm feeling lazy but know I need to go outside, I'll just climb a tree instead.
I'll go for a walk if I'm super stressed and need to get away from people, too. I find that walking is a much better way to spend time talking with the Lord than sitting in my room trying not to get distracted by other things. And those are the times the walks get much longer than I intended. And they're definitely the best ones.

So...did you ever go for that walk?

[Sammy Boy]

I used to go for walks of about 30 to 45 minutes on weekends when I was still single.

I would use that time to reflect on the week and maybe pray as well.

These days, I don't really have time for that, but I sometimes go for a wander during my lunch break at work. Because I just want to get away from that computer screen at least once during the day.

Interestingly, the Mandarin term for "going for a walk" is "san bu", and in Cantonese it's "san bou". I am guessing the kanji characters are probably similar or the same to the Japanese version as well.

[Thunderscream872]

I usually go for a long walk every Saturday evening/night, but I need to go out with other people. Rarely do I go out walking by myself. I can jog and bike by myself just fine, but I don't like going for walks by myself, it just doesn't feel right. I also don't like going out during the heat of the day. I prefer the morning or the evening, but my job prevents me from heading out at those times through most of the week so usually I just stay inside during work days, and in the winter I stay inside on my days off too...I hate the winter.

Like four or so years ago me and my brother used to go for long walks almost every day in the summer and just talk about tv shows, music, writing, drawing, etc. We were both working on writing something at the time, so we'd mostly just play with ideas for the story, characters, etc. Eventually, we clashed too much and couldn't agree on what direction to take the story so we decided to just work on our own separate projects. lol, good times, I don't have near that kinda free time these days.

I go biking quite a bit, so it kinda substitutes for walks I guess. I still like to make sure I get my long Saturday walks in though.

[Rusty Claymore]

I walked to the store to buy an onion.

Oh, I did take that walk I mentioned in the beginning. But I didn't walk for an onion then. Just this time. Just... me and the onion.

I guess I bought strawberries too.

[Sheenar]

Walking to get an onion is good. Taking an onion for a walk is even better (it could be like a pet rock with a little harness and leash!)

[Banana Lobster]

Walking to get an onion is good. Taking an onion for a walk is even better (it could be like a pet rock with a little harness and leash!)

I'm not sure if that image is absolutely adorable, or just plain weird. If someone does that, could I see a pic?

[Sheenar]

Walking to get an onion is good. Taking an onion for a walk is even better (it could be like a pet rock with a little harness and leash!)

I'm not sure if that image is absolutely adorable, or just plain weird. If someone does that, could I see a pic?

That could probably be arranged.

[Lynna]

I generally get my walking done when walking to and from work, although I officially left a few days ago. Other than that, I find going on walks with other people is helpful.