The Power of Positive Words: Walking for Pleasure

I was walking back from the gym today on the lane that meanders across the Cookridge golf course, my hands shoved in my pockets and my shoulders hunched against the cold wind, when a car pulled up alongside me and the window rolled down. "Are you walking for pleasure, or would you like a ride?" the driver asked.

"Err, thank you," I said, "but I'm walking for pleasure." The window went up and the car drove on, leaving me pondering on this.

Up until that point I had just been walking home. Now I was walking "for pleasure". It made all the difference. Immediately I felt warmer, and stopped hunching. My shoulders went back and I stepped out with renewed enjoyment of the exercise, my mundane little walk transformed.

It reminded me to be careful in the labels that I apply to things. When you attach the right words to an action, it can seem wonderful. Attach the wrong words and it becomes a drudge. I wonder if I can manage to think of enough good words to keep me going through another 100 days of rowing next year...

If you'd like to start supplying me with positive, life-enhancing words by posting a comment to this blog, I would be most grateful. Let's see if we can come up with enough good words to get me from Hawaii to Samoa!

[photo: a shorter-than-usual row, in a smaller-than-usual boat, courtesy of Leeds Rowing Club, Roundhay Park]