I walk about 30 miles a week, through rain, shine and snow there
I am marching to one place to another. I’m too daft to drive, too impatient to
wait for a bus so I walk, everywhere. Now this isn’t vanity, it’s deeper than
that, my legs have such big calf muscles they’re a party trick. I don’t bother
doing my hair all winter, it only gets rained on, and high heels are a no, my
knees are too worn out even though they heals make my legs look a little less
like a footballers and a bit more like Barbie’s. I walk away from Hell, that’s
why I walk.
I don’t believe in God or sin, I believe the human mind can land
us in Hell while were lucky enough to have life. I don’t believe Hell is a pit
with fellow sinners, you might meet some fun people in Hell, the only company
you have in your pit are your blackened memories and ghosts of your past, now
where’s the fun in that?
By the end of a walk I’ve got to where I want to go, felt
whatever crazy storm Mother Nature can chuck at me and Hell has gone, so where
does it go, why does walking mean Hell is a few steps behind? Well it’s thanks
to brain made endorphins, these make you feel better and take you out of
depression or handmade pit. Your brain can make better chemicals than any lab too;
a Harvard study showed exercise worked better than man made anti-depressants, they
work for longer. What would you rather do in the morning, pop an addictive pill
with side effects or walk to where you want to go? If you have to be addicted
to something why not something that helps you sleep, burns calories and can
prevent cancer; the flat stomach is cool too.
I have tried more rock in roll solutions to Hell, Vodka, pills
from a dealer, pills from a doctor but nothing worked. A pill from a dealer
only worked till the end of the rave then the comedown would leave me deeper in
the pit, the happy pills from the doctor gave me strange dreams and made me
feel like a Stepford human and the Vodka made me crazy and get to know toilet
bowls. I gave every drug up out of self-respect. I was left with my old friend,
walking.
Walking will never solve my or your problems, it does something even
better, Hell is never far behind but if you stay there nothing gets solved
there, my brain gets too full, the self-pity ties me up in knots and I can’t
see a way, after a walk I have the power to solve my own problems and the strength
to enjoy gothic skies and rain, and even see the challenge.
http://www.health.harvard.edu/newsweek/Exercise-and-Depression-report-excerpt.htm
