These Books Are Made For Walking

My weekday routine is pretty consistent.  Regardless of how long I have slept I wake up without the use of an alarm clock around 5:30 AM.  I make it into the community center a bit after 6:00 AM and start walking the fairly short indoor track.  It takes 11 trips around the track to equal one mile and I usually take just under 18 minutes to complete each mile.  On most days I walk 6 miles (66 laps) and I almost never miss a day.

These morning walks are an amazing part of my life.  I am someone who likes to have time to myself to think and each morning provides me exactly what I need.  Most days walking in circles with my thoughts does not fill the entire time (or even most of it) so I use three other methods to entertain and occupy myself as I pass the time.

1.  Music - I find music is best at the beginning or end of my walks.  Music is especially helpful when I have a lot on my mind.  There are a number of songs that automatically lift my spirits or allow me the space to connect my head and heart.  I will say more about music another day.

2.  Sports Podcast - This is cotton candy escapism that brings me pure pleasure.  My favorite is the B.S. Report with Bill Simmons.  This is supplemented by sports talk radio shows that I have missed on KFAN.  I am especially in a sporting mood around the NFL and NBA drafts or if my Minnesota teams are in the playoffs (which has been a while).

3.  Audiobooks - My real love each morning is listening to audiobooks.  I never really cared for pleasure reading until my mid-twenties when my thirst for knowledge drove me towards books.  I now listen to 12-15 books per year.  This past year was the first time I tried fiction books (I loved the Hunger Games and Dragon Tattoo trilogies), but my long standing interests include biographies, historic events, and intellectual books that challenge me to think differently about myself, others, and the world.  The fiction books were fun, but the non-fiction books bring me the greatest sense of happiness as I pass each morning hanging on the next discovery of new and interesting information.

I will use this blog to share the discoveries made in these books and the meaning making, reflections, and thoughts that follow.  I will also flashback to previous books as past discoveries and lessons find a way into my daily life.  My last four books were The Starfish and The Spider, Happier, The Gifts of Imperfection, and Steve Jobs.  I am currently listening to Life Itself: A Memoir by Roger Ebert.  You can expect a blog post in the near future about what I have discovered over the past week listening to this book.