I have let you know at least a couple of times that one of the things I enjoy the most about my RetCom (retirement community) is the three-quarter-mile walkway that runs along the perimeter of the property. One reason is that it gives me daily cardio-exercise. The other is that it gives me time to think, really think.
To go along with my new special project on the “Philosophy of Life”, I want to tell you why intelligent minds take their brains for long walks. Aristotle, Charles Dickens, Henry David Thoreau, Virginia Woolf, Albert Einstein, Friedrich Nietzsche and many others made time for long walks.
- Aristotle used to do some of his lectures while walking on the school grounds.
- Charles Dickens used to walk several miles after writing in the morning. (I, too, do that 🥴)
- Friedrich Nietzsche walked several times a day, and proclaimed that “all truly great thoughts are conceived by walking”
- Einstein’s daily walks around the Princeton campus were legendary.
I can’t tell you how many times I have come up with my best post ideas while on my daily walks. The world just seems to stop spinning, and my mind sometimes even clears to only one topic that suddenly appears in front of me.
Researchers have discovered that long walks can have a positive impact on our mental health, as well as our physical health, and it is shown to increase our creativity by about 60%. For me, my daily walks allow me to more mindfully process information and ideas that suddenly become clear in my mind.
I will tell you that my daily cardio walks for the year+ that I have been here at my RetCom home have resulted in a significant increase in my wellness. Many of the aches and pains I used to feel are now almost gone.
When you make walking a daily habit, you are doing more for yourself than you ever imagined. It makes you healthier, more creative, and mindful of your place in the world. It might not be THE secret of life, but it is certainly one of the boosters.
RJ's Corner 
We have a perfect place to walk, too. About half a mile from our front door is the entrance to a trail through a wildlife sanctuary. I look forward to taking daily walks outside again as soon as the weather cools enough here in Central Texas to trust my dog’s paws to the pavement for that half mile each way and my skin-cancer-prone face to the sun with a hat on. Oh, and recover from last week’s surprise appendectomy, although I feel fine from that so far and now know why I’d been feeling so under the weather for a couple of weeks.
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I was in central Texas in mid-May so I know how hot it gets. My wife had her appendix removed in her seventies, but I still got mine. 😁 I hope you have a fast recovery. At our age it takes longer than it used to.
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I completely agree about walking and thinking. And when I rode my bike more, that was great too. I think it’s about having time alone and nothing to do but think and let my mind wander. It’s good for the heart, but also the mood. I’ve been sidelined by a case of tendinitis for a few weeks, and I really miss my early morning walks. Enough to be faithful to my PT exercises. 😬
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I was never much of a walker until I came here. I took a two-mile walk at the mall once a week, but that was about it. I do about 20 miles a week now. I am healthier and more at peace because of it. I hope you can get back to your walks soon.
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