It's funny how you aren't always aware of something until it's missing. Growing up we were very active out of necessity. My mother didn't learn to drive until she was in her thirties so we had one car and one driver in the household. The car wasn't to be used frivolously, either, because fuel wasn't free and neither was wear and tear. My father used to be a mechanic, so he did most of the repairs himself and when it wasn't absolutely necessary to use the car, we walked.
Before the big supermarkets we'd shop at different places for our needs. A grocery trip was a walk into town, stopping at the best priced bakery, butcher's and green grocers. Then we'd walk home loaded with shopping bags, or at least my mum did, because my sister and I never got far before our bags became too heavy.
The journey to school was a walk to a house which took us and some others there by minibus. At one point my sister decided she didn't want to do that any more and opted to cycle to school, so I did too. I had one bike throughout that period of time and I grew into it. I used to have to cycle standing, because I couldn't reach the pedals if my bottom was on the seat.
Then it was off to college on the buses. It was a little bit too far for cycling, but there was plenty of walking between the bus stops as I changed from one to another.
My work life started out on the buses too. Then I got a motorbike, which requires more movement than a car. Eventually I learnt to drive a car and if you work in the city you'll know the value of the park and ride. Some walking is generally required, but leave a bit earlier and you can sometimes find parking which will allow for a half hour walk to your place of work so you can save on the bus fare. My husband's car would often be out of commission and his place of work was not easily accessed via the bus routes, so then I'd be back on the buses. A walk to the bus stop on the main road, a bus to the city centre then either a bus out to my place of work or I'd just walk if I'd had enough of buses and some of the odd people on them (why do all the creepiest, smelliest people always seem to sit next to you, even when there are plenty of empty seats?)
On Saturdays we'd go to the indoor bouldering wall in Nottingham and encourage others to join us. Only my father came regularly with us. I kept climbing for most of my pregnancy, but as children took up our time we stated to go less and less.
When I had children and I discovered how it felt when I didn't move as much.
Depressing.
I'd go to mother and toddler groups once a week, but just drove there, unless hubby had the car. It took me a while to realise the correlation between my sinking into depression and my lack of activity. I now had to consciously make sure I incorporated activity into my week. The supermarket wasn't far from us, so if I didn't need to do a huge shop I could put my daughter into the pushchair, then load the shopping onto the pushchair for the journey home. Sometimes the rain can put you off heading out, but after 3 or 4 days of it I just had to get the rain cover on the pushchair and head out anyway, even just to walk into town.
Once my eldest started at nursery school I didn't have to think about being active again. There wasn't much chance of parking near the school and it was only a 15 minute walk anyway, so we walked and often chatted with other mums also making the school delivery. Plenty of us did the trip on foot.
Then the school holidays would arrive and I'd need to try and remember not to let myself get stuck in the house again. We'd walk to the local playground if the weather permitted or we'd get our waterproofs on and play in the rain if we had to.
Our neighbours had a child of their own around the time my second was born and we'd often go out and let them all play together on our dead end street, while we chatted and took turns helping them on walkers and later bikes.
When we moved to Australia, my husband got work and used the only car were had, so I'd walk the girls to school again. However, things aren't as close in Australia as they are in England. It was more than twice as far and we discovered how much harder it is to walk on a sweltering hot day. If hubby finished on time he could sometimes collect us as we walked home and save us from some of that journey. Eventually he got a work vehicle and we got to use the car. Luckily it didn't make us too inactive, because we'd often take trips to the beach after work and school finished for the day and commonly went on outings at the weekend.
In general, the distances in Australia mean we use the car a lot more and walk a lot less. I know I'm getting less exercise in, in fact gardening is about it at the moment. I also know my physical and mental health has been paying for it, especially since this lockdown. Yet the less I do the less motivation I have to do anything. I know I should male the time for getting active again, but without a reason for it, I find it hard to motivate myself, especially when I know there are other things I should be doing that are deemed to be more productive by others.
Family outings don't happen any more, because there's always someone who doesn't want to be there. It's easiest to just go out in pairs. A shopping trip with one daughter, a fishing trip for hubby, somewhere to get some photography in for the other daughter. It's winter right now, though, and few people want to be out in the rain...
We're eyeing up a bouldering wall in Keswick. I think it's time to get back on the horse after all these years and the girls might even join us.
This is my response to the @naturalmedicine movement challenge.
Life and change and all that stuff! And DAMN Australian distances - it's actually a LOT easier to walk in the UK, I agree! Admire your self awareness her and recognition that feeling low might be down to restricted movement. Time to shake off the cobwebs and draw inspiration from the others here who have shaken, danced, jumped, run and yoga'd their way to joy. And I'm sorry you're feeling down. I feel and hear you there xx
Oh yes, costing the cobwebs seems apt. Not long left until you'll be heading home again now? I bet home will never have felt sweeter!
Funny how inactivity seems to follow suit with aging!
I have to consciously get myself up and moving where when I was younger being active was how I wanted to be, winter and summer!
Hope you get to your climbing walk soon and your girls join you - sounds like fun!
I think we also encourage a reduction in activity as you get older. I ntries and overdoing things are more likely as you age, so we encourage people to take it easier which in turn becomes doing less.
As the time changes we changed ourself as per our convenience. I remember a placard outside the office elevator to use staircase just to be fit. It is infact necessary to make maximum physical movement....else we are stuck up putting weight or become lethargy.....talking of driving a car...ufff..it was lot of physical work for the foot thank god to the traffic which hardly allow car to move....😉....now looking at your post, making me to take part in the NM contest👍
Haha! Yes, driving into the city in rush hour certainly used to be hard work on the clutch foot back in England. I guess the traffic is much heavier where you are!
Sometime it was 0 movement in peak hour. And during rainy days...you might end up ending whole day on road...I am in india. I remember when I use to work, i usually take a sound sleep ...it was 1hr journey to office and mostly it ends on 3 hrs...😉
I thought you might be in India. I've never been, but I've heard about the traffic there! I'm sure it makes England look abandoned!
It is so true, that we can become stuck in our ways and unless we find a real driving force to change we don't do it. I walk a lot simply because I do not have a car, but I am really glad that I don't because it keeps me fit, I know I would be so much less if I was driving. But if you really do want to be more active, you can do that, set a day and time to go for a walk and then note how good it makes you feel. Especially if you get to go by yourself and have some me time xxx
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So much of what we do we do out of necessity, but don't always appreciate the good it does for us. Thanks for the tips, @trucklife-family, I should probably try and make it a regular walk.
Look how little they were :)
I just wanna smoosh them.
I've slowed down with the walks recently, the weather's been horrid. We went down to Currency Creek for my niece's 1st birthday party yesterday; I ended up carting her around in a backpack for a few hours, so my leg muscles are feeling it today.
Worth it, though.
I find necessary exercise is easier to talk myself into; but unnecessary exercise is more fulfilling when I'm doing it.
Haha! Sounds like Shaun the other day when they went fishing off the coast. His legs were hurting for a few days afterwards and he didn't think he did that much walking, but realised later that he did a lot of squats going up and down for his bait.
12 years have flown by. I miss my little squshies!
Is that Dan's girl having her 1st already?
Yep. Madness. Cute as a button.
Have fun getting back into the bouldering! :D
I need to start doing more things while waiting for my main activity to kick back in too. I've been lazy/enjoying my extra drawing time too much to give it up x_x
Are things not opening up there still? Your premier was justifying keeping borders closed because he said things have gotten back to normal there and he didn't want anything coming back in.
I dont know if the bouldering walls are open yet, but hopefully by the end of the month the restrictions will hade lifted enough.
Things are going pretty much back to normal, gym has gone back and we're doing what we were doing before (cleaning all the things) except now there's cleaning stations with the spray bottles and wipes and hand sanitiser so I don't have to go searching for my cleaning tools that someone else has used and put away somewhere else XD
I really should have spent this weekend working out what was open and replanning the rest of the year (because my original plan for the year got completely destroyed) but a combination of my computer playing silly buggers and being apparently incapable of getting photos off my phone and other chaos has meant I've just hidden in drawing for the entire thing x_x
Wow what a different life you have had compared to me. We always had 2 cars, although we did walk to school everyday and we were always outside playing even in winter. Snow ball fights and sleigh rides as well as ice skating. I feel very blessed to be born in the USA. Now retired, we moved from the suburbs to our farm and keeping active is never a problem. Except to remind myself to not over do it, In my mind I still think I am young yet my body tells me otherwise.😊
Nice post, it sure got me thinking.
Thanks for sharing
I think my husband could use reminding that his body isn't as young as it was. He still goes at everything full pelt and then wonders why he injures himself and takes so long to heal! 😆
Ah yes, winter in the playground... although it was more commonly just ice than snow. There was a slope going down towards the school where the kids would make a skid patch most years, which sounds a bit iffy when I write it down now! It was basically an ice slide. Run and slide along on it with your feet and it got slippier the more it was used, as long as it stayed cold enough.
With British being so small, but well populated, we probably didn't need personal transport as much as you might have in the USA. So it was considered more of a luxury back then.