A Walk in the Park: The Relief of Clearing Your Head
Sept. 19, 2019–4:45 pm CST
It goes without saying that life can be very, very stressful, and sometimes we need to set aside some time to decompress. Time to step away from whatever it is that’s getting to us and to clear our minds. To take time for ourselves.
Recently, I’ve had to deal with a lot of difficulties in my personal life. Both physically and mentally. I tried a lot of things in my quest to overcome these difficulties: throwing myself into my work, throwing myself out of work, listening to new music, or going for a drive.
Yet, all of these things failed to yield the results that I was looking for. Throwing myself into my work only led to more stress over the feeling that the work that I’d produced during that time was not good enough. Taking time away from work only left me feeling guilty over not working enough, and going for a drive was nice for awhile…but you can only drive so far.
However, when I was at my wits end looking for things to do, I decided to take a trip to my local park. It was a weekday afternoon and it had just finished raining, so I figured it wasn’t going to be very crowded. I decided I could at least get a little peace strolling through the trees along the walking paths.
I grabbed a lightweight drawstring bag, packed my umbrella, a bottled water and set off. At first I just put headphones in and started walking down the trails. After just 10 minutes of walking I could already feel myself becoming less and less stressed.
I wasn’t really thinking. Just walking down the path, observing the nature surrounding me, with music playing in the background. I can’t quite put my finger on what it was, but just being outside in that park was the most relaxed I’d felt in days.
Like pounds and pounds of weights being lifted off of my shoulders. Noticing a feeling of tension in my shoulders that I didn’t realize was being kept.
It took me a long time to realize why I felt so relaxed. Then it hit me: for the first time in literally weeks, I wasn’t thinking…about anything. I wasn’t thinking about what work needed to be done, how to overcome the obstacles in my way, what the next week or weeks could look like. I wasn’t being consumed by the anxiety of my current situation.
I was just walking through the park, looking at the trees and listening to music.
I realized I had subconsciously been spending all my waking time focusing on the stress around me. No matter what I was doing, the things causing me stress were always on my mind. When I was eating lunch, taking a shower, or sitting outside with my dog, that stress was always on my mind.
I just wasn’t thinking about it as a cause of stress.
It seems so obvious now, that the best way to get away from that mental strain was to try and cut it out, for even just a little while. Just by clearing my mind, forgetting about what I had to do, or what was holding me back, it was like a weight being lifted.
Even after returning from my walk in the park, that mental strain had noticeably reduced, even though nothing in my life had changed. Well, except my mentality.
I’m not sure what it may be for you, but it’s crucial for us to find a way to decompress from our busy everyday lives. Maybe it’s not going for a walk in the park for you.
It could be anything. Taking time to play with your dog, taking a bubble bath, reading a book in peace and quiet, or maybe going to the gym to get some exercise. Whatever it is, I implore you to take time for yourself.
Take the time to forget about what you feel needs to be done. Forget about what’s standing in your way. Forget about next weeks plans, or plans for the week after that. For even just 30 minutes or an hour.
Take time for you. To clear your head, and to remind yourself that you come first. Because if you can’t work, then nothing else will either.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I think I’m going to go take a walk. Care to join me?
