How do you start your day?

If you are like a lot of people you look at the time from bleary eyes, try for an extra 5 minutes of sort of sleeping. Finally, you crawl out of bed, complain to yourself or whoever you woke up beside about how this or that hurts, head to the bathroom, then blindly head to the kitchen to make coffee or else throw on your work clothes rush out the door to head to work. If you have retired blop down in front of the TV to watch Sports Center or the news while you eat breakfast.

Sounds pretty familiar to a lot of us I bet. I did this routine for way too many years.

However, when we got the little bundle of joy named Bennie back in 2010, that all changed.

He is one of those dogs you cannot just let out the door to do his business, he has to be leashed and walked, otherwise you might not see him for a few hours and the stress of wondering where he is and if he is okay while searching for him until you find him, is a lot worse than getting the leash out and walking the little beastlet.

So over those years, I have turned into a walk first thing in the morning person. I know that I have to get up earlier in the morning, every day to ensure that I have time to walk Bennie and it has changed my life for the better.

Do I really want to every day?

Of course not, but on the rare day that I do not walk with him first thing in the morning, my day seems off and the old body just feels stiff and aches a lot more than usual. Bennie’s enthusiasm and bouncing around over starting the day outside usually gets me through those blizzards, snowstorms, rain, hurricanes and other “interesting” weather. Those things might cut down how far we walk, but we always take the time to get outside and see how “bad” the weather actually is. Bennie is pretty smart, but he hasn’t learned to use the toilet yet.

I really believe that I need my walk first thing in the morning, it gets the kinks out. I really don’t consider this walking with him exercise, because there are so many stops for Bennie to sniff this or that, leave messages for his kingdom and it is done a pretty easy pace. However, I do add it to my daily cardio total, so I guess it might be considered exercise.

Walking first thing gives me a chance to ease into my day, think a little about what is going on and what needs to be done, appreciate nature’s beauty, get lots of fresh air and actually see the changing seasons.

Now you might be saying I don’t have time to get outside for a walk, which I say is bullshit. We make time for what we think is important. We all make choices about how we want to spend our day and one of the choices I make is to start most days with a little walk with my dog.

All I know is that it helps me start my day off on a positive note and it helps the old body loosen up a bit before breakfast. Which in turn allows me to have a better day overall.

How about you, do you exercise or go for a walk first thing in the morning?

If not, maybe it is time to try a short walk in the morning, you might have to get up a little earlier and go to bed sooner, but the benefits are there if you want them.

By the way, as an added benefit you might even catch a gorgeous sunrise and be amazed by the sights of the seasons, which you will become more in tune with.

Come on and join me for a morning walk, it does an old body good.

Originally posted on Aging – My Thoughts and written by Harold L. Shaw. I am no gerontologist, expert on aging or anything else, these are just my thoughts and experiences about getting old in today’s world.