You make the decision and you execute it. You make your body move and go in whatever direction you've selected. No waiting for a phone call before you can take that next step. No worry about how far you are going into hock to pull it off. It doesn't need to take a thimbleful of gas.

The instant you start to walk, you feel a sense of progress. You move down the street. You are going somewhere! Finding something you can make happen when much of what you need to happen is beyond your control is a key piece of self care. Besides, walking helps you think.

We all know walking is great exercise. That's true--and another good reason to go for that walk. But it's the mental health boost that's the biggest plus as part of your strategy for dealing with an economic downturn. When it starts to feel like you can't do a single thing to make the situation better, taking the time to go somewhere on foot goes well beyond calories burned and heart rate achieved in terms of the beneficial effects.

A walk provides a cadence and that seems to help thoughts get themselves in order. After a few blocks or a mile, stuff just starts to make more sense. Walking is calming. One foot in front of the other, again and again. If you want, you can make it a meditation. Go somewhere you haven't been yet and make it an adventure. Or give it to yourself as a treat. (My brother has taken this to his personal perfection. He walks four miles each way for a glass of good scotch at a bar he enjoys.)

I walk when I am trying to solve a problem, too. The steady pace and resulting predictability give my mind a chance to run on automatic pilot for a while. Often, that's when the best solutions slip in--when I'm not actively trying to find them. When I took a screenwriting class where I had to make the characters do things I couldn't imagine them doing, walking always revealed a way. The problems I'm walking on with this downturn are gnarlier, but the process is still spot on. Walking will get you to a good solution faster.

That bit about it being good for your health makes it an even more valuable tool in a downturn, too. Walking helps you stay healthy. It helps you control your weight. Both of those results can keep you away from those very expensive places--the doctor's office and the pharmacy counter. And seeing a nice version of yourself when you look in the mirror makes you feel like a success, no matter what the economy is doing.

Walking helps dissipate stress, too, because you feel yourself DOING something. Because of that, it energizes you.

Walking also gives you a chance to meet your neighbors, learn your neighborhood, and get out in the sunshine. Who knows what you might find when you venture out on foot? A lower cost, friendlier place to get your hair cut? The perfect place to train for a triathlon? A job opportunity? True love?

You won't know until you give it a chance. So take a walk. It's a low cost, high value element of a good overall strategy for living well. Go by yourself. Go with your best friend--or your dog. Go with God. Just go!

What are you waiting for? Get out there. And then keep doing it for the rest of your life. The payout is huge.

Copyright (c) 2009 Mary Lloyd