Skip to main content

The journey of a thousand days (29/04/24)



They say the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

For me, that saying has a nice ring to it. But if you have ever tried to walk a thousand miles, there are many many steps between the first one and the step that makes the end of a 1000 mile journey.

Interestingly, I feel the magnitude of a thousand miles, because I've been on a little journey myself. I've committed to walking 10,000 steps every day. And for the last thousand days, that is what I have done.

It sounds nice. A real achievement. It doesn't reflect the sweat and tears walking every single day. Many worn out shoes. Thousands of hours of podcasts. When I started walking 10,000 steps a day it was the fourth of August 2021. On that day in August, it had been just two months since my dear mother had passed away and I decided to channel the grief and the loss into physical exercise.

Don't think I ever intended to walk 10,000 steps every single day for an extended period, but I got some momentum and kept on going.

And after 365 days, I decided: I've come in this far. I may as well keep on going.

After another year, I decided: I've come this far. I may as well keep on going.

And so that takes me to the milestone of a thousand days.

During that time I've walked 11 million 990 thousand 445 steps, and travelled approximately 8,960 kilometres.

My legs are toned, muscular and lean, and I feel healthy and energetic. The single step I took way back in August 2021 has certainly stretched into a journey.

Perhaps even a lifestyle.

I'm not stopping. I'll see you in another thousand days....

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Handstands

I’m waiting for a coffee on a Saturday morning, standing next to the counter in a suburban shopping centre. Around the corner comes a Mum with three spirited children. The impact of the small family on the shopping centre energy is palpable. The children are full of life, and the mother has her hands full as the little troupe, aged five, four and three, I estimate, engage with everything with energetic gusto. ‘No running’, Mum says to Mr 4, as a four-year-old energetic boy goes tearing past me. Mum turns around to see the three-year-old walking slowly behind. ‘Come on’, she says to Mr 3, coaxing the littlest one to quicken his pace. Distracted from the older members of the troupe for a few short moments, Mum turns around and sees Mr 4 doing a cool breakdance style handstand in the middle of the shopping centre floor. ‘No handstands’, Mum says. She does not see the coolness in Mr 4’s handstand.  Mr 3, however, is visibly impressed and cannot resist the call of acr...

Chapter 2

Not again, she thinks to herself. And then the stairwell begins to lose its composition. Damn she says. It's early.  She grips the balustrade, knowing that it's useless. In the realisation, grips harder and closes her eyes.  This, at least, is helpful. The visual experience was harrowing the first time. It still is, but at least this time it is somewhat expected and 'normal'. Remembers the first time, it must have been 3 months ago now. Was sitting at a cafe in her home town, the smell of fresh waffles thick in the morning air, mixed with the aroma of freshly brewed coffee. Ethiopian, she knows. Pip and Pup was a weird name, but the coffee was to die for. The light has been different, that morning, and she wonders how it might have been different if she had not needed to use the bathroom at Pip and Pups.  She had walked down the passage past the kitchen, and the passage seem to stretch out and bend to the right. Even though she had screamed loud, no one paid any attenti...

Ancestors

It's been a long time.  A long time since I thought about him. And today I visited his grave. Actually, its not really his grave. His mother was buried there many years ago, and his ashes were scattered there after his cremation.  His brother thought this was the best place for him to rest . I'm not sure what I expected. Perhaps I thought that this would give me "closure", or a feeling of relief. Perhaps it's been so long, and the emotion and feelings are hidden behind many years.  We drove on long straight deserted roads, through old mining areas and tired looking cattle yards.  We passed across the marks of an old burnout, and drove through Jarrah forests and pine tree plantations.  As we got close to the cemetery, I felt something stirring deep in my belly. The stirring of pain, trauma and emotion long forgotten. The cemetery was a quiet simple clearing setback from the main road and surrounded by virgin bush. Some overgrown bushes covered the path, and I par...