Would you be surprised if I told you that for one solid winter, I made sure that I got my butt outside every single day for at least 5 minutes ???
Just in case you’re thinking any of the following:
“ Wow, I could never do that ! I am not THAT person”
Or
“ Holy moly she is a rock star!!! How the heck does she get herself motivated to do that???”
Or
“ She’s a nut job. Who cares anyway?” lol
I will tell you that I didn’t just do this on a whim.
There was a stretch of time where in addition to the actual darkness of winter, there were a whole batch of “ dark” and rather sad times that all came together.
Without getting too far into the trenches, the loss of both parents, the passing of my father in law, and sending my oldest son off to his first year of college and having to let him spread his wings.
I generally am a pretty happy person but I did find myself struggling to stay “ UP” as most people expected me to be.
The one thing that I noticed was that as soon as it started to get colder and darker earlier in the day, the more I was inclined to stay inside and keep bundled up from the cold. However , nothing about that was making me feel better.
So, I decided to do a little experiment with myself as the guinea pig.
I committed to getting outside 5 minutes every day, regardless of the weather.
On a side note, there was another huge side benefit of this experiment and they had four legs and a fluffy tail.
Yes, we’re talking about my buddy Bubba, my 4 year old golden retriever.
So every day, whether it was raining, snowing, or sleeting with high winds, I would put my insulated pants and winter jacket on, saddle up Bubba, and hit the streets for our daily walk.
Just a few awesome things happened because of these walks:
Just getting fresh air every day made me feel SOOOO much better !
I gained this feeling of confidence in myself that I was actually doing it.
Bubba was more than thrilled that he got to be my sidekick and often, was getting a second walk in his daily routine
I found that I slept better just by getting the fresh air
The house ALWAYS felt warmer after coming back in from a very windy brisk walk.
The worse the weather , the quieter the streets were for our walks. There is something to be said for having a walk every so often where it’s just me, the pup, and the mountains around us.
Time to listen to either my favorite podcast or music. If I needed to really clear my head, I would often just leave all electronics behind.
Keep in mind that you in no way need to have a pup to try this experiment.
One other note.
I would recommend that this be a solo experiment.
I can tell you with certainty that when I offered to my family members “ Want to step out for a walk today with me “ , the faces that I got in response to the offer were less than excited. Lol
Not to mention we are talking about a 5 minute time span. It may take you just as long to put on your boots and gear as the walk itself but that’s totally OK!
The point is to get outside, take a few deep breaths of fresh air, and clear your head and get some vitamin D from even a tiny bit of sun exposure.
Let me know how you all do and if you have other great ideas related to this !
Have a wonderful day !
Tanya
“Some old-fashioned things like fresh air and sunshine are hard to beat.” – Laura Ingalls Wilder