Last summer was a time of commitment and pursuit of two major goals, “to walk a million steps” for SuperWalk and to raise $10,000 for Parkinson Canada. Over the 130 days of summer 2020, I reached my two goals by September 12, 2020. So what should I do in 2021 for SuperWalk? For the normal man, he would have adjusted his goals up and expected to successfully reach 5 – 10 % higher than last year.
But I am not an average man in a normal situation due to the nature of my Parkinson’s Disease (PD). The progressive nature of this disease on my body is actually a regressive impact as my physical and mental capacity. My only real question is “how much” will my condition regress from year to year. It makes you stop and think through any of your plans and activities for the next while.
As we came out of our walking routine for the winter, my wife and two golden retrievers had to reassess our walking patterns for the summer. I felt that my walking ability was somewhat reduced by 25-50% from the previous summer and “Charlie,” the younger male but 12 years old, showed a similar concern. Andi, my wife, was also concerned about blending our walking with her early and regular morning meetings. Only “Riley”, the mother of Charlie, was eager to walk whenever and for as long as possible. So, it was three to one to reduce our walk.
I was slow to commit to any serious walking pattern as it seems that the effects of COVID 19 were not alone in reducing my enthusiasm for walking and fundraising in 2021. The loss of a new role and related activities had perhaps a larger impact on my motivation. Further commitments to downside my personal collection of antiques and artwork felt like losing another element of my identity as a “picker”or “collector” (both much more admirable than a “hoarder”). I also realized I may have the traits of a “completest” who looks to the completion of sets or projects for satisfaction as I assembled the ultimate “single man fishing pontoon boat”. Sold that too to retake the garage for other storage needs. Now that I’ve done the personal work related to this, I will attempt to get back on track with my SuperWalk campaign.
Stay tuned for my regular messages and perhaps even a video!