# 38 - So THAT's What the World Looks Like

Many weeks ago my pedometer shamed me into moving more. Dr. Tzippy Morris of the the Efrat Women's Health Center had told our health group, right at the beginning, that we should do our best to work our way up to 10,000 steps a day. That was it. 10,000 was the magic number.
So I put on the pedometer she gave us and checked every few hours. 495 steps. 739 steps. 2900 steps. On most days my step tally didn't even make it up to couch potato status. I was more like "boulder with lots of moss around it".
Now. up until then I had a pretty wholesome and happy self-image. But suddenly I was thinking, "How pathetic are you. You can't even go from inanimate object status to plant or living thing. Get with it."I was determined even in my busy schedule to add more steps to my life. No one else would know about it, but for my own personal self-image.I walked up and down the staircase in my home a few times (the Center's social worker Alizah Shapiro's idea). I walked to my bedroom a few times. Those teeny jaunts were good for a few hundred steps, and I was feeling desperate about my inertia. I knew those few hundreds steps were not enough to change from categories "'most pathetic in the world" to "pretty pathetic", so I decided to try something drastic (for me).<>I got up a little earlier than usual and walked on the treadmill for a half hour. I turned on one of the unwatched movies that my sister sent me and I walked. 
I didn't walk too fast (I mean, let's not go crazy here!), but I walked. Sometime I'd go a little faster. Sometimes I'd go faster than that. Sometimes I'd walk for 30 minutes and sometimes I'd make it to 40 minutes. I go with the flow.
My morning walk gives me my steps (okay probably not nearly 10,000) right up front, and the pressure's off for the rest of the day.
The Sky is Blue
This morning my friend called to ask if I wanted to walk with her. Well, I was just about to walk on the treadmill. I can walk fast on the treadmill (if I want too). Thanks to the treadmill's dashboard, I know exactly how far I've walked and how many calories my walk has burned. I get to see Kathryn Grayson reunite with Howard Keel as the Showboat pulls our of the dock (You probably don't even know dust I'm talking About. For this I pity you. See Showboat, MGM, 1951).
But I love my friend and I'm always so busy that I don't usually have time to socialize with friends, so I said 'YES.'
We walked about 4 kilometers around the neighborhood. We chatted. We went up hill and down. The sun was shining . The sky was blue. Hey the sky is blue with bouncy white fluffy clouds. Nice touch. I'm usually in my office and don't get to see that nice sky. Thanks, G-d. Great picture-perfect sky.
Other walkers scooted by in the other direction. We did the Walkers' Nod. No one could tell that I wasn't a regular. It was a fun change from the treadmill  I get to hear Old Man River on my treadmill, but I got to be with a friend, see the cars whooshing by and hear the birds sing along my walk. They're no Kathryn Grayson but they do have a lovely cheery appeal, so I'll probably do this again some day. Nice sky.