It’s ok…to stop and look 👀
We are increasingly becoming indoor people. More people now live in cities versus the countryside. Technology has furthered the divide from the days of my childhood. It used to be “Come in when the street lights turn on”. Now everyone is already inside way before any street lights flicker on.
We have grown away from the experiences of a vibrant, fragrant-filled lavender field. Dipping our toes into a babbling brook. The smell of rain after a thunderstorm. The richness of the outdoors and how it complements our lives. The mountain views and vistas have been traded for an indoor existence that dulls our senses and creates a disconnect with our long-ago DNA. To be outside.
I know all, if not, most of us are endurance athletes. I’m not talking about your training. I’m talking about your everyday life. When I got divorced I wanted to move towards sustainability. Walk to a coffee shop to work. To get groceries. To run (ride) errands. This has dramatically shifted my mindset to a much happier and healthier lifestyle. Not all of us have the opportunity to “move to a location where all of this” can be achieved. But we all have the ability to go for morning walks. See the sunrise. See a sunset. BREATHE in all that makes the outdoors amazing.
I’ve become more in tune with myself. I once told a friend, after my journey, that I can now smell, see and appreciate flowers. Really? How weird is that? Now I realize that it’s not weird. It’s normal. I was pushing hard in everything I did. Too hard. I now stop and appreciate a puppy being walked, a flower blooming, a pond, or a creek. I am breathing it in.
You could argue that during your training you get all of this. You don’t. When is the last time you stopped on a group ride or run and said…”Hey Jane, look at that creek”? Take this journey with me. Take the kids/grandkids for a walk. Go for one by yourself. You will find wonder, joy, and beauty in places you would have never thought. This, my friends, is a great life hack. Hack away.
Tailwinds,
Chad