Grateful to be Walking

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I have set myself a new goal: to walk at least 7000 steps each day.  I have also decided to give a name to these series of efforts - gratitude walks.  I think the name is fitting.

In August of 2024, I had a below the knee amputation on my right leg.  That took my life on a radically different pathway.  For example, it took me a time and multiple physical therapy sessions to gain mobility using a wheelchair.  The most important part of this life journey, however, occurred on December 13,2024.  On that date, I got my first prosthetic leg and began walking.  I am deeply grateful for that event; I am where I am now because of that momentous day.

Fast forwarding to Sunday November 23, 2025, I committed to walking 7000 steps a day.  I have been putting the counts diligently since then except for yesterday; I was about eight hundred steps short.  I am not discouraged, nevertheless.

When I go on these walks, I have my smartphone with me and I often use Google Recorder to voice journal while I walk.  The contents of these sound bites vary.  Last evening, for example, I recorded myself describing the scenes of my apartment compound as I put in my steps.

The tandem experience – walking and journaling – is rewarding.  I believe the experience (or experiences, I should say, since I would walk and journal for the foreseeable future) align with the four “Cs of the deep life according to Cal Newport.

  1. Craft: I aspire to become a full-time writer.  The voice journaling is a practice that aligns with this aspiration.  It is a practice that cultivates both observation and expressing my thoughts.  In addition, the practice creates wealth of ore to that can be mined for ideas for creative writing.
  2. Community: the practice creates ideas for this and future blogs that I can share with my fellow human beings
  3.  Constitution: the walking is a physical exercise that helps with my physical health.  The exercise also helps with brain function, contributing to my mental health
  4.  Contemplation: this particular entry was primarily made-up of description.  However, towards the end, I talk about Cal Newport and his podcasts on the deep life   I have also had multiple contemplative voice journals in which I try to internalize ideas I learned from articles, books, and podcasts.
I am grateful for being able to walk.  I plan to continue "walking and talking" as I continue to explore this new me and eke out a much more meaningful and rewarding life.
I 

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