Again, it seems ages since I last wrote - this time it is definitely my Bipolar's fault, as I'm pinging from severely depressed to slightly 'buzzy.' Thankfully I've only had a couple of hypomanic days since my big episode last summer, but I've managed to do the severely depressed really really well, which is annoying for a number of reasons. Firstly, when I'm that low I'm no longer able to function as a human being - I end up living in my jammies, eating only if food is put in front of me and sleeping around 10-15 hours a day - not very helpful when you have 2 kiddies that need you! What is worse though is the second thing, in that where I mentally want to do everything, but my body goes into 'shut-down' mode, I have to watch my poor mum struggling to cope with looking after me, my dad, my 2 kiddies and trying to fit her work in at some point in the day as well.
Anywho, don't want to dwell here, on to nicer things!
So, my new found love of walking came about when I set myself the challenge of running a marathon to raise money for people that suffer from MS, like my dad - as I got a spinal injury a few years back, I can't run as the impact hurts too much, so I power walk instead 😊
As part of my marathon training, I do one long power-walk a week, between 5K and 10K depending on how I feel on the day. I have a route that takes me into the next town over and then looping back home again. I love plugging in a bit of Spotify and stomping off into the sunset - I tend to go in the evenings when the kids are in bed, as I just can't seem to find time during the daytime. It's also brilliant if my kiddies have been little sods at bedtime, as I can blare out some music and stomp off for a few hours - true bliss!
Lately though, because I had to give my driving license back to the DVLA; thanks to my bloomin' bipolar, and the fact that at the moment I'm too unstable to be safe to drive (I wasn't driving by choice anyway, but it hurt having to physically post my actual license back 😢 The other sucky thing is that I had just sorted the lease on a lovely little Fiesta for 3 years, which for the time being, can only be driven by my mum - sob!) So unless I catch a ride with friends or mum, I am choosing to walk places and I can't believe what an eye-opener it's been!
When I'm walking just for the purpose of getting home; eg from dance class or group therapy sessions (both in the next town over) I stop to take things in! They both link onto my fav power-walking route, which is handy! I do occasionally find myself going down side roads, or mini detours - just so that it varies the scenery and adds to the Kilometers I manage for that day 😉😊
I spent my walk back from group therapy taking in all the gorgeous flowers and plants that I could see along the way home (that nearly made me late picking up the kiddies from school - oops! 😂)
Here are just a few of my favourite ones:
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| scenes on my walk home from Newbury |
It struck me today as I walked home from group therapy, just how much I was missing when I used to do the same journey in the car!
💜 I totally forgot that there is a mini waterfall in the green area in front of one of the warehouses!
💜 I got to process what we had discussed during the therapy session - I don't usually have time to do that if going in the car
💜 I smiled at every single person I passed - some were in their own bubble and not interested, but others gave me great big smiles back, which I just loved!😊
💜 I also got to walk past the queues of traffic stacked back on both of the roads i walked down - all those busy folk heading off to find some lunch - I must admit, during the bits when the sun was out, I totally didn't envy any of them being cooped up in their box-on-wheels! 😂😂
When I got a little closer to home, I took a short-cut through one of the local parks (it has a massive field there) and I got chatting to a lovely old gent as I had stopped to tell him how gorgeous I thought his dog was! The dog looked like a mini version of a 'Lassie Dog' (afraid I can't remember the exact breed name he said) his name was Toby. His owner Norman and I chatted happily for around 10 minutes or so, then I let him get going as big black clouds were rolling in! (I was very happy that I had remembered to put my umbrella in my bag, as I didn't have a coat!)
I wouldn't have enjoyed any of these experiences if I hadn't started my fundraising Marathon Challenge, (plus having my driving license taken away! sob, again😉) Nor would I have met Toby and his owner! So as much as I'm desperate to be allowed to drive again (I have to be consistently 'balanced out' for 3 consecutive months for that to happen!) as I want my independence back! I do think that I will keep walking home from places much more that I used to .
It's also better for the environment and my weight loss journey - I call that a total win-win situation! 😄
