Take A Walk

With this new blog came commitment, and with commitment came a well-organized action plan to tackle my new lifestyle change. And it was an easy task—I just had to: • Get acquainted with the Hart House gym and the Athletic Centre • Take a look at my options for what exercise classes best suit me (such as spinning classes at the AC, since I miss being on the bike, but am too scared to take on the streets of Toronto. Or my usual go-to for exercise, drop-in Zumba at Hart House) • Make a schedule to fit in time for these activities • Most of all, start with baby steps. But that didn’t happen because my plans fell through this week. Instead, I practiced the art of tossing and turning in my bed, because as life happens unpredictably, colds do too.

That’s right, I joined the hundreds of other students on campus who were plagued by the common cold this week. I also missed some classes, had to delay a few of my extra-curriculars, and fell off the face of the Earth. But when I did go to class, I joined in the zombie line of students trekking from Queens Park and Hart House crossing. If you also have been affected by a cold recently, then we probably have walked by each other, both with jumbo-sized tissue boxes in hand. I also feel sorry for you, because this cold's a strong one. Aside from my staying in bed or slugging around from class to class, I noticed that I was falling behind in my school work. Although my strong, and unfortunate, ability to procrastinate already contributed to this, I felt like I was losing energy whenever I tried to pick up a book and read. Maybe it was me feeling under the weather, or maybe it was me just being exhausted over my exhaustion, either way, my inability to focus made me realize that I needed to take a walk. You know, the walk that you take when you feel like you need to take some time to recollect the current events in your life. Or in the case of having a cold that prevents you from going outside, a walk to recollect the lack of any events that happened whatsoever. And I didn't want to walk in Queens Park, or in and around the university bubble. I wanted to go somewhere far from campus (and most definitely far from Con Hall). Either I had to wander away, or else my mind would.

So I chose the former for the sake of needing to get back on track with my school work and social life. The walk was more like a break from doing nothing—and what a wonderful procrastination from procrastinating it was. I started my trek at Victoria College and headed on to Harbourfront to ponder on the coast of Lake Ontario. Since it was daytime, this was not a moonlit walk by the shore, which was unfortunate for the romantic in me (sort of). Even though I wasn't running, like the many joggers that passed me while I leisurely walked downtown, I felt energized. I was able to sort out my thoughts enough to realize that I missed doing things. I especially missed my extra-curriculars and studying. As a university student, among many, who gets stressed by school work, missing the latter part sounds like a joke, but honestly, it was true. I felt proud of myself for going outside and taking a walk, and for at least doing something. And I think that this exercise was what I needed the most to get that peace of mind I so needed. Most of all, after that walk, I actually did sit down, and was able to focus on my readings.   -Amanda