Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Committed or Crazy?

Last week Keith and I  laced up our walking shoes, put on our heavy coats and headed for the door of my in-laws house.  When we told my father-in-law we'd be back in 32 minutes after we completed our walk he said "You're going for a walk at 9:00 at night in a cold rain?  You're either committed or CRAZY, I'm not sure which!"  Actually, I'm not sure either.  About a month ago when Keith was dealing with some high blood pressure issues he suggested that rather than relying on medication he should make some lifestyle changes including cutting back on salt, switching to only decaf coffee, taking garlic tablets (seems garlic is for more than just warding off vampires) and walking three times a week.  I eagerly jumped at the last suggestion (and now ask myself WHY?).  You see, Keith is a VERY committed person.  He is very stubborn and hard to talk into things, but once he makes it HIS decision and he commits to it, he sticks to it...NO MATTER WHAT. For the 34+ years that we've been married Keith has been committed to running 3 times per week...well at least he used to run, now it's more of a jog and he would say it's more of a wobble.  For years I've tried to tell him that he needs to give his old joints a break and start walking instead of running.  My ulterior motive was that I knew I really needed to walk (no way could I start running!) but didn't have enough motivation to do it on my own so I needed him to be my walking partner.  But he'd always say that he wanted to keep up his running and that was enough for him.  So when he said a month ago that he was ready to start walking the 3 days a week that he didn't run (taking Sundays off) I was thrilled.  He made me agree that we were committing to a minimum of 32 minutes for 3 days a week no matter what the weather, no matter what the day or time of day, NO MATTER WHAT.  The only problem with that is our crazy travelling schedule has caused us to walk at the most inconvenient times in the craziest weather and in the wierdest places.  We have walked as late as midnight at the end of a ten-hour drive.  We've walked in cold wind, blowing rain and total darkness.  We've walked in several well-lit parking lots (when the streets seemed a little scary), on golf courses, in fields, and inside three different Wal-Marts in Alabama, Arkansas and Missouri.  The Wal-Marts proved to be most challenging... though we stayed warm and dry we had to power walk quickly while avoiding shoppers, stockboys, the urge to stop and shop, and the wary store managers as they began to trail us!  But we've done it!  For four weeks we've stuck to our committment and walked at least 32 minutes for 3 times each week. That's over 384 minutes of time that we've spent walking and talking together.  And even though it's always been a challenge to carve out the time I find myself throwing those walking shoes into the suitcase each week and eagerly anticipating the next time we can walk together again.  It feels good to know we can make a committment and stick to it NO MATTER WHAT.  So you tell me...is that COMMITTED or CRAZY?

1 comment:

  1. It's no wonder why they call being hauled away to the mental facility "being committed". I believe being truly committed means being at least a little crazy. You guys are awesome and a true inspiration to me. In fact, I think I'm going to go outside and run right now!

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