Getting Somewhere - Faster!

I know I walk very fast. I constantly hear people I happen to walk with exclaim "Wow, people call me a fast walker, but you're crazy - you don't walk, you run!" I have one person at work who shakes his head any time he sees me in the hallways and exclaims "There he rushes - a man on a mission!"

I've always wondered why I like to walk so fast. The answer is that it's because there is just so much to be done. I have to constantly feel like I'm getting something done. That does not mean I'm a workaholic. I really don't think I am. I have too many non-work interests to be a workaholic. I love to read, listen to music, watch movies, play on the computer, keep up with new technologies, and much more. But, it is because there are all this millions of things I like to do that I hate to "waste time" on anything.

Yesterday, for the first time in a long time, I walked outside on my way to my daughter's dance show at a nearby school. Even though I walk fast, being outside allowed me to see a bunch of things I normally don't see - a burbling brook a few minutes from my house, interesting looking trails leading into deeply wooded areas, and a field of wildflowers surrounding the stream. For a fleeting moment, I thought "I really ought to get out more." But that thought quickly was replaced with "well, if I need exercise, I'd rather do it on my stepping machine in front of the TV." It is not that I watch TV (I hardly watch any TV at all - we don't have cable or satellite at home and don't miss it one bit). But, watching an episode of Twilight Zone from the 6-DVD set I bought two years ago while exercising helps me feel like I'm getting something done. At least one more item on my "To Do" list is being checked off. For some strange reason, that is more satisfying to me than being out for a slow walk in the woods. It's not that I'm not spontaneous or don't enjoy just doing things for the fun of it. It's just that there has to be a goal attached to anything I do. So, if my goal is to relax and walk around aimlessly, I have no problem doing it (remember the fun I had blogging about my Australia trip?)

So, if you want to know, I walk fast so I can get somewhere and do something.

I scare myself sometimes ...