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Something few of us do, but most of us need to do is to take a walk.  It is amazing what a walk can do for us.

The most obvious benefit of taking a walk is that we get some much needed exercise.  On the eve of 2009 many of us made resolutions to lose weight, to get into an exercise program or to seriously begin a journey toward reaching a new goal we have set for ourselves.  Chances are those New Year’s resolutions have fallen by the wayside — probably sometime in February, if not earlier.

I prefer to start my new plans for the year in the early spring.  It seems logical to me.  Mother Earth starts new growth in early spring.  What an inspiration!  We can make excuses all winter long as to why we don’t go for a walk.  It’s too cold.  It is snowing.  The wind is adding to the chill factor.

It’s spring.  The weather offers us a beautiful setting for getting out.  If you have not begun your exercise program or if you started one and let go of it, it is time to start over.  Remember, it’s never too late to begin.

While I’m on the subject of exercise, one lady I was talking to yesterday wanted to start an exercise program.  She thought about joining a gym but confessed that it would be a waste of money for her.  Her excuse?  She is too fat and would be embarrassed to go to a gym with all those lean bodies.  Well, excuses only satisfy those who make them.  The truth is that going to the gym would take her out of her comfort zone.

If you would like to go to a gym to work out but hesitate because you aren’t “fit” enough, start by walking.  We can all go out for a walk without embarrassment, can’t we?  However, I must say that when the woman said she felt that she had to be “fit” to go to a gym I was reminded of my mother who used to clean the house before the housekeeper came.  Think about that one for a minute!

Another good reason to go for a walk is that the exercise of walking will get more oxygen to our brains.  It will help us think clearer.  Oh, I know that all of us — particularly in difficult times — have awakened with a million thoughts overlapping in our heads.  We wake up in a state of confusion and wallow in the mess all day.  Chances are following a day of confusion and worry, sleep is hard to come by.  Take a walk and do a little deep breathing while you are out.

A good walk will help us focus and improve our attitudes.  Get out onto the sidewalk and take that first step.  Leave the scrambled brain in the house.  Focus on what you are seeing as you walk.  For example, this morning I noticed that a neighbor has beautiful poppies growing on the side of her house.  The roses are beginning to fade slightly.  The peonies are magnificent — and embedded in the concrete about a block from my house is an oyster shell.

I’m sure there are lots of places in the world that have oyster shells crushed into the concrete, but I do not live in one of those places. In fact, the sidewalk that I usually walk is probably 80 years old at the very least.  It is in a mountainous area where the Civil War was fought.  And, the oyster shell is not crushed.  It is one side of a shell that has the inside face up in the concrete.  The mother of pearl has been worn away leaving the inside of the shell a shiny white.

What is unique is that when I returned from my walk this morning I called my friend Maya and asked her if she had every noticed the shell.  She responded that she had.  Well, if any of my neighbors would have seen the shell, Maya would be the one.  In fact, of all the neighbors I called Maya was the only one who was aware of the shell.  That did not surprise me in the least.  Maya is one of the most observant people I have ever known.

All of us need to clear our minds from time to time.  Try taking a walk.  When you get home, you may have a new perspective.