“The hardest thing about 
exercise is to start doing it. 
Once you are doing exercise 
regularly, the hardest thing is 
to stop it.”
~ Erin Gray

It’s been a long time, and I mean a VERY long time, since I’ve walked the recommended 10,000 steps in one day. Today, I’ve already surpassed this milestone, and it’s not even 2:00 p.m. yet!

Actually, now that I think about it, I’m sure I must have walked at least 10,000 steps in the Dallas airport in March, when my American Airlines departure gate was changed five different times, taking me to three different terminals. That was not intentional walking, but it was a wake-up call. It was upon my return home from this trip that I decided it was time to make a lifestyle change.

I have been well-aware for many years that exercise is essential to both one’s physical and mental health. Despite knowing this, I had an incredibly difficult time finding the motivation to get up and move. Little by little, pound by pound, inch by inch, this sedentary lifestyle was taking a toll on my overall health. Sadly, even though I was aware of this progressive decline, I didn’t care. Then I took the trip to the Bahamas to say goodbye to my friend, Kim.

Kim’s husband, Simon, picked me up at my hotel and drove me to their home in Nassau. Kim was in her bedroom when I arrived. She slowly made her way into the living room where Simon and I were sitting. It was great to see her, but I was saddened to see her struggling just to walk from one room to another in her home. We had a wonderful visit, even though we both knew it would be our last.

Since returning home, I got to thinking about Mark Twain’s quote about reading: “The man who does not read has no advantage over the man who cannot read.” It didn’t take long for me to acknowledge that the same is true for exercise. It was then that I decided it was time to make some changes in my life.

For the past two weeks, I’ve been averaging between 4,000 and 6,000 steps per day. I know this falls short of the 10k recommendation, but it was a start. Today I broke the barrier. 10,000 steps is equivalent to about five miles. I can do this! And I will continue to do this.

Michael Jordan’s father told him, “It’s never too late to do anything you want to do.” I’m grateful for the desire I now have to do what is necessary to live a healthy life.