the journey of 10000 steps...

begins with the first.

my workplace is participating in the 10000 steps challenge, and i have joined a team at work. went and bought myself a pedometer and i'm now counting my steps :) don't think i'll quite hit that 10000 per day mark though, even with my walking to and from work.

funny to think that less than a week ago i was seriously thinking about giving up this walking thing. been walking to/from work for the past 5 months, and it's been ok in the cooler weather. now that it's warming up though, i'm not liking the idea (which turns into reality all too often) of arriving at work on the wrong side of hot and sweaty. plus i've never been keen on exposing myself to the sun too much - and my ~25 min walks is definitely a much higher continuous dosage of UV than i'm happy with. so i was tossing up options like

• starting later so i can drive and park in the adjacent shopping centre once their general parking areas are open (which some people do, but technically we're not supposed to...), or
  
• borrowing access to the shopping centre's staff car park, or
  
• starting and leaving home much earlier to get a spot in the car park at work (tossed this option cos i value my sleep too much to wake up any earlier, esp. seeing as i never get enough as it is), or
• go back to paying for nearby parking (the kind my conscience need not worry about :p), or
  
• starting a bit later to better time the local bus - the one that only comes once in a while, and whose punctuality can't be relied on even though it's at the start of the route! so by the time i wander to the bus stop, spend my time waiting, and finally get to my stop... i pretty much may as well have walked the whole way and saved myself $2

so, essentially it boils down to: what price my physical comfort?

anyhow, now that i'm doing this steps thing, i guess i'll stick to walking. and since i always carry an umbrella in my bag, i suppose i could use it for shade as well as shelter from rain. it's just that i can't stop the pictures in my mind of me strolling with a parasol... *shudder*

another thing i can't get out of my head in relation to this emphasis on walking is the song 500 miles - originally by the proclaimers, and covered by steven curtis chapman on his "all about love" album. it's not a song that i'd have thought belongs on a "christian" album about love, but MB's (SCC's wife) comments in the liner notes sheds new light on its lyrics:

... it celebrates in such a fun way what I know to be true of our commitment to each other. What a wonderful gift it is to know in confidence that the man I'm married to is the man who will be "growing old with me".