I will be the first to admit that I have a problem. I have a problem with shunning the quick, daily, or weekend, jaunts outside thinking that I need to do something bigger. It’s a regular conversation in my head, “i need to get out for a run today… oh I only have 2 hours until it gets dark… I’ll wait until tomorrow and get out all day…” It’s a vicious lie I keep telling myself and it results in me not getting out as much as i need to. When I worked less, and had an easier job to walk away from and right back into, I would take a couple months off every summer and go do something big- something epic. It kept me going. I could kill myself with work for a large part of the year knowing there was this long non-work time coming. Hilariously- I kept working that hard, and stopped taking the big time off.
I have come to realize though- the small, daily, quick trips are just as important. Maybe even more, for keeping the heart and the head relaxed and happy. And that’s lead me to realize this:
Choose your backyard wisely.
As I recently walked away from a job I absolutely loved (but that was slowly killing me physically and emotionally), and have been considering my job options- I have been lead to an internal discussion about moving for work opportunities. I moved back to Utah after closing down my own business in Seattle several years ago because I love Utah. This place is the best backyard you could ever ask for. There are miles upon miles of trails to alpine lakes, amazing sunset views, and insane wildflower displays in the spring –literally- 15 minutes from my front door. That’s amazing. There is sun more days then there isn’t, and we have seasons (hey- I grew up in Southern California.. and even though I haven’t lived there in 20 something years, seasons still excite me).