Day 10: Why Did I Stop?

I live at the base of the Niagara Escarpment in Southern Ontario. Along the escarpment are a series of stairs that provide access from the lower part of the city to the upper part.

Today, I agreed to meet someone forty years younger than me at the top of the stairs for a walk along the rail trail. I arrived fifteen minutes early so I’d have plenty of time to climb the 228 steps and rest long enough for my heart rate to recover.

It’s been about three years since I last climbed these stairs. I’m not sure why I stopped. They used to be part of my regular walking route. Knee pain hasn’t helped and may have been the reason I began avoiding them.

Months and years have gone by, and I had become pretty convinced I wouldn’t make it to the top.

As it turns out, my experience today wasn’t significantly different from the last time I climbed them. I took a couple of short pauses to catch my breath, but I made it to the top feeling pretty good about my “performance.”

I’ve been thinking about why I stopped doing something that had once been a regular part of my life. And I’m wondering if there are other things I’ve stopped doing without really making a conscious choice.

I want to be careful before deciding I’m too old to do something. I certainly don’t want to make that decision without some objective evidence that it’s no longer possible for me.

I’ll let go of things when the time is right.

But apparently, I don’t always have to let go quite as soon as I think I do.

For now, the stairs are going back into my rotation. I’ll see how it goes.