Why I walk: I am always moving.

If you know me, you know this: even when I’m sitting, I am not sitting still. I remember the exact date and time when I made a decision that changed my life. It was August 22nd, 2021, at 3 in the morning. I was reovering from COVID, I couldn’t sleep, and my legs were aching and restless. I felt the need to move. I call it my Forrest Gump moment, only I didn’t start running, I started walking. 

COVID had taken a toll on me physically, and I had been dealing with some serious personal  grief and anxiety. That morning I took my first step on an incredible journey.  I walked 40,579 steps that day. I talked to some friends and they encouraged me to follow this urge to move as a way to help manage my mental and physical health. My buddy Sam was the first to join me in this commitment to walk at least 20,000 steps a day for as long as we could make it happen.  

For the next 134 days, I never walked less than 20,000 steps a day, some days I walked more than double that number. On day two, I read an article about the actual physical distances Jesus walked. He averaged about 7,000-10,000 steps a day, and the extent to which he was able to change the world was enormous. This made me think, “What better way to learn and affect change than to start walking and talking in my community?” After all, that is how Jesus did it. What would I see? What would I learn?

Along the way, I’ve not only improved my physical and mental health significantly and increased my productivity but I have been able to meet and talk at length with people I never would have crossed paths with otherwise. It is that last benefit that really changed my life.  

Walking each day showed me places I’ve never seen before, right here, in the city I’ve lived my whole life. It showed me the vulnerabilities of my community and the vulnerable people of my community. It showed me the beauty and richness of hidden places and hidden people. People began to join me—some just once for that day, some on a regular basis. I ended up crossing paths with people I would have never known, I listened to histories and perspectives I would have never heard, and I built valuable relationships that never would have existed had I not taken that first step.

Because I took this journey, I understand my community differently than I did before, and I am compelled to make sure the thi`ngs I do, the businesses I am a part of, and any of the ways I engage are geared toward growing a healthier, more compassionate, more resilient community. When we are stagnant we are dying, but when we are moving we are thriving.