I run with the hope that it will help me live, not because I particularly enjoy it. The only ‘runners high’ I ever get is the exhilaration I feel at being done and knowing that I don’t have to do it again for at least two days.
So when I passed a man in my neighborhood the other day who was walking his dogs, I said, “What you are doing looks like a lot more fun than what I’m doing.”
He replied, “When I get the urge to do what you are doing I lie down until it passes.”
When I passed him again he said that in truth he would do what I was doing if he had not had a knee replacement. I pointed out that I ran because both my parents died of heart disease.
As I ran off, I thought about our two situations. And I wondered whether having a good dog might be a better preventative against stress-induced heart disease than running.
Tempting.
Stephanie
Come on over and take your pick! I’d bet I know what neighbor you saw. He’s very kind!
Randy Greenwald
Oooooh, better than a dog of one’s own is probably the dog of a friend and neighbor. I can come pet them, they you get to clean up their messes. Kinda like being a grandparent.
dwightdolby
First, what kind of dogs is Stephanie selling? Second, I am currently walking our dog, Red, every morning, with my camera hanging around my neck. I also had a heart stent put in nearly three years ago for stress induced heart disease. Of course, the challenge with a dog and camera (nature shots, birds, gators, etc) is that the walk is not aerobic in any manner. But neither is it stressful. As the brother of C.S. Lewis once described his own walking partner, “he’s a very companionable dog,” I have found Red to be the same.
Randy Greenwald
I fear she’s not selling. The dogs are joked about, but woe to the man who comes between her and her dogs! Sorry to hear about the stent. I hope you are well! But, hey – where’s the stress? You have a cushy job… 😉