My Shadow

Lately, and I don’t know why, but I’ve been very aware of my shadow.  Last week I was noticing my shadow as Don and I walked w/ Autumn between us to Ross to get her some new pants.  It was tender to see him on the left, her in the middle, and me on the right all holding hands.  I wish I had stopped and gotten a picture of it.  It was the shadow of future possibilities.

However, that shadow has changed and now I get to focus on the shadow of myself.  I have been going walking 3-4 times a week for about 35-45 minutes during my lunch break at work.  I don’t walk fast enough to break a sweat, but I walk fast enough to get a little bit of a work out.  I’ve already lost 12 lbs in the past 2 weeks just by adding that little bit of exercise to my day.  I have LOVED going on my walks.  It gives me a chance to clear my head, be alone, enjoy my music, think about my life, enjoy nature, and notice my shadow.  I watch my shadow move and hope that each day that shadow gets a little thinner! :D

Tonight after watching the Biggest Loser, I wanted to get out and get some more exercise.  I went on a night walk, which was just what I needed.  It was chilly outside and I enjoyed the cool weather.  It’s a half moon out tonight, so I was again able to watch my shadow move down the road as I walked.  There were even a few times when I broke out into a little jog.  It was nice to go walking at night so that I could run a little and not feel self conscious about people looking at this Amazon woman trying to run down the street. 

After my walk, I went and laid on the trampoline in the backyard and just looked up at the night sky.  I am so lucky that we live out in the country where it is dark and I can see so many stars.  The moon was bright and it was so relaxing to just lay there and contemplate my life and the direction it’s heading.  I thought about how blessed I am.  I thought about my best friend, Tara, and how much I love and miss her and how amazing of a person she was.  I thought about Autumn and how lucky I am to be her mom.  I thought about my family and how I could not survive w/out them.  I thought about so many of my friends from my mission, from work, from church, from high school, etc.  I thought about how phenomenal nature is and just appreciated so much the beauty of the evening.