If You are Seeking Creative Ideas-Daily Meditation 2.24.23

Today’s quotation:

If you are seeking creative ideas, go out walking.
Angels whisper to a person when one goes for a walk.-Raymond Inmon

Today’s Meditation:

I’ve been very fortunate to have the desire to walk born into me somehow.  Perhaps I learned it from my grandmother, who was very much into long walks herself, but I feel it mainly as an internal drive, something I’ve always wanted to do.  When I’ve lived in foreign countries, much of my learning there has occurred when I’ve gone for long walks and simply observed.  When I’m working hard, long walks help to relax me, and they help to calm my mind and spirit.

Walking is definitely a form of meditation, a time when my focus shifted from internal issues to the things that surround me, the things that I see.  I focus on the trees, animals, sky, and flowers, and the problems I’ve been focused on seem to dissolve and become much less critical.  And when I add to the benefit that walking provides me with very beneficial exercise, the main question I usually ask myself is, “Why don’t I walk more?”

Usually, it’s because of time–my life’s demands seem overwhelming sometimes, and they keep me from doing something like walking.  There are also the time-wasters, such as Internet sites and TV, that sometimes seem more desirable than walking, especially if the weather outside is terrible.  What I get from walking is so valuable, though, that I do my best to fight my way through the desire not to walk to get outdoors and exercise my spirit, my mind, and my body.

I like having angels whisper to me.  They keep saying, “Look at this,” and “Look at that.”  They keep telling me that I’m fortunate to be able to go for walks in beautiful places.  And they tell me that I’m alive, that life goes on, and that I’m improving my years to come and the present moment by walking.

Questions to consider:

What are some of the things that keep you from walking more?

How might you shift priorities to allow yourself to do more walking?

Why do so few people in our culture do basic walking, like walking to the store?

For further thought:

Walking exercises the whole person.  It exercises the body– it gives the arms and legs a workout.  It stimulates the flow of blood; expands the lungs.  It is gentle and relaxing.  It exercises the mind– it shakes up the brain cells.  It fills them with oxygen;  drives out the cobwebs.  A famous scientist says he does his best thinking on the two miles of sidewalk between his home and office.
Walking exercises emotions.  It gives you a chance to observe and enjoy the world.  Open your eyes to beauty.  See the homes, the trees, the gardens.  See the shining faces of little children.  Listen for the church chimes, singing birds, and the laughter of happy people.-Wilferd A. Peterson

If you missed the last Daily Meditation, it is right here.