Relentless Optimism

I've had a lot of blog ideas colliding in my head over the past few weeks but haven't been able to pin down anything concrete, so apologies if this one strays.  Things haven't been helped by me being in a bit of a fug since mid December - lots of causes that I won't bore you with but suffice to say I temporarily misplaced my usual chirpy demeanour.

The more I pondered the more I realised that all the ideas were actually related.  I wanted to write about Health -v- Wealth and how we are continually encouraged to trade a desire for bigger, better and shinier things by working longer hours which we ultimately pay for with our health.

I also wanted to write a blog called "I wore pink today" about how easily we miss the signs that someone around us is depressed, or struggling, because we're so wrapped up with our own struggles and challenges.  We miss the fact that someone who normally wears bright and cheerful colours is suddenly wearing a lot of grey and black.  Of course it might be nothing more than a new fashion trend (or the only clean thing in the wardrobe!) but we so rarely ask to check.

I also wanted to write something about the health benefits of being outdoors; not just on our mental health but on our overall wellbeing.  The benefits of removing our faces from a phone screen and sucking in great lungfuls of fresh air.  Our electronic devices are purveyors of doom and inadequacy.  There's a saying in journalism: "If it bleeds, it leads".  Bad news sells so in many ways we've only ourselves to blame.  Even negative comments by "trolls" attract more attention than positive "yeah that's amazing" posts and we all have that one friend who only ever comments to pick out the flaws in something we just shared...

Right now things look bleak.  January is never a good month - we're all broke after Christmas, the nights are long and dark and for some insane reason people insist on making it even tougher by giving up alcohol, going vegan or forcing themselves to go to the gym when they really don't want to.  The news isn't helping with Brexit dividing families, Trump trying to literally divide the American continent and a bunch of people getting upset because Gillette are suggesting that bullying kids and harassing women isn't how men should behave.

On top of all that I'm bombarded with adverts telling me that getting old is a bad thing and that somehow I can reverse the ageing process by buying some ludicrously expensive gloop to smear on my face.  I'm no Brian Cox but I'm pretty sure it will take a serious deviation from the laws of physics to stop me getting older.  Ageing is a fact of life.  It's a fact of the universe - but we live in a culture that celebrates and values youth and beauty.  Well, b******s to that! 

I once did a personality assessment which told me that it is my "relentless optimism" which most annoys other people so I have chosen to take that as a compliment and not only build on it, but channel it right into the heart of everything Cumbrian Rambler does.  The world is NOT full of misery but it is so easy to miss the good stuff, or overlook the small joys in everyday living and find faults instead of fun. So, here it is.  In a world where s**t happens every single day this is my remedy for 2019; I will find the fun in everything I can and continue my relentless optimism to the end - who's with me?

#FunHappens

What's wrong with walking?

I walk. Anyone who reads this blog knows that. I live in Cumbria & I walk up big hills. BUT I also travel around the UK a lot with my job & I like to walk then too, but it's not always easy.

I use public transport & prefer to walk from the station to wherever I'm working or staying and so many times when I do that I realise how hard it is. Not the distance, that's the easy part; it's finding a safe route that causes the trouble.

Take this evening. I arrived in Ashford, Kent, at 6:17pm. My hotel is 1.7 miles from the station. Easy? No. Finding a route along a busy road is the first challenge, followed by navigating roundabouts and roads with no easy crossing places.

After that comes the long walk along a well lit but very quiet road.  The thing is people don't walk anymore, they drive, so routes are deserted.  When I was a kid in the early 70's I remember closing time at the local factories when you couldn't have driven if you'd wanted to because the road was choked with people walking home.  Today, at 6:30pm in Kent, where the traffic report on the radio is an endless list of holdups, I only saw 2 other people on foot in the space of a mile & both of them were runners.

Today there were pavements for most of the way - not all mind, I still had to take my chances on a narrow bridge with no pedestrian option - but in the past I've tramped along grass verges and, on one particularly memorable occasion, skittered along a very narrow footpath alongside a dual carriageway.

Walking is cheap. Walking should be easy. Walking gives you time to unwind, refocus & burn a few calories. "Walking Rage" isn't a thing (as far as I know) - at least not along quiet suburban pavements.

I love the film WALL-E and think they were right on the money with the scenes in the spaceship where folks float around glued to screens & have largely lost the use of their legs. It wasn't just a cute Pixar film, it was a warning about where we're all headed.

Walking doesn't have to be up hills. Walking should just be something we do every single day - it shouldn't be such a rare thing that it merits a 5 minute shocked conversation with a hotel receptionist who can't believe you walked "all the way from the station".

I do understand why some folks don't do it - especially women - it was scary walking along deserted unfamiliar streets alone after dark, but if more people did it, the streets wouldn't be quite so deserted and we'd all be a little bit fitter.

I walk because I like it, because it helps me unwind and because I know it's good for me.   I'll be honest - I also do it because it means I can scoff a warm chocolate brownie & not feel too bad about it afterwards... See? What's not to like? 😀

AND AFTER YOU'VE ENJOYED YOUR WALK - why not put your feet up with a good book or 3? 😀

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