Precipitation 100%

The sound of the rain on my air conditioner is rather similar to to raindrops on a roof and so this morning I stayed in bed an extra half hour with my eyes half lidded and pretended I was waking up in woodland cabin where I was peacefully spending a month pursuing some sort of creative endeavor.  My little fantasy also had a butler who was hiking miles through the woods to bring me a breakfast tray with hot tea, grapefruit juice, waffles with strawberry syrup and of course bacon.  Which I would eat on the screened in porch that overlooked a small pond just visible between the mossy trunks of tall pine trees.

I do enjoy rainy days most of the time though today it is interfering with my plans to take my daily walk.  I find that motivation comes much easier when the workout will take place along the seashore with all of its pleasant sights, sounds and smells.  Yoga in my living room, while generally pleasant, does not have soft waves, soaring gulls or tweeting birds, but I made do soft meditative music, a cracked window to hear the rain and two inquisitive cats.

I think walking also comes easier because it is what we are designed to do.  We are not meant to sit still for the long periods of time that we do today.  I think our bodies actually want to walk, one foot in front of the other...we like to go places.  When I get up in the morning to take my stroll I think my body lets out a little silent "Yipee!"  Stretching, bending, crunches, leg lifts and such are great for the body, and I'll still do them,  but we have to think about them, count them, and strive to do more when we don't feel challenged enough.  Walking just comes naturally.

Edit:  After posting this I had the thought that there are a lot of things in the average American's life that are not natural.  Working at at desk for 40 hours a week, keeping to a 9:00-5:00 schedule and ignoring our natural rhythms, the expectation that all will follow the same path of school, career, marriage, babies, eating three scheduled meals a day instead of eating when hungry and NOT NAPPING.   We ignore what our hearts and bodies tell us to do even when they beg to be heard.

Instead of listening we seem to tune them out with buying what we don't need, convincing ourselves that a five day work week and two day weekend is somehow going to feed our soul, that accumulation of money and things is more fulfilling than accumulating experience...

These are not new thoughts and I'm sure there are a million self help books one can buy that will tell you just this (hey you get it here for free!) but I know my darkest times have come when I've stopped listening to and answering my own actual needs...