Living in the Present, only Looking Forward

[Coconut]

I did the entire river trail Saturday, it ended up being 5.5 miles each way (there is a 1/2 mile separation between two legs that you have to walk along a road to get to), I also did a couple of short side trails for views of the river and a historic town in a city park along the trail that includes a covered bridge, historic school buildings and such. It really is a very nice trail, I had done the same section of the trail several times but it was nice to see the rest.

I brought my dog with me, and she really slowed down my pace, both from stopping to smell, going potty and people passing wanting to pet her (she's 10yrs old but looks like a puppy and is the softest dog I've ever petted). Having so many people stop and chat, many of which were woman, was nice because it almost turned it into a social event, which was definitely a unexpected bonus.

I even almost took up jogging cause there were a few that I would of liked to keep in sight longer But I have medical inserts in my ankles that I had put in when I was young, to fix my flat feet, and it makes jogging very difficult (limited flexion in my ankle) and causes a lot of pain in my ankles afterwards (similar to the pain of spraining your ankle). In fact just walking so much further than usual caused a lot of pain walking after about the 8.5 mile mark, and weight bearing the next day was extremely painful, so I spent Sunday on the couch I've never had a problem with my 6 mile hikes, so I think I may try doing 8 miles frequently and see if I can strengthen my ankles.

I'm pretty fed up with OLD... I know, it's only been two weeks and I should be more patient, but I really find peoples lack of communication skills frustrating. I no longer respond to people who just reach out and say "Hi", I just delete those. Then, when I reach out I read their profiles, and I try and let them know what I found interesting about them, whether it be shared interests, or funny, or "real", and then they often reply with just short comments about what I said, adding nothing to the "conversation", or just say something like thanks for reaching out. Honestly, the quick conversations I had on the hiking trail were so much more enjoyable than the conversations I've had with people online over several days.

I also find myself checking the site more often than I should, almost like an addiction, so it's a bit of a let down when everyone I try talking to disappoints me. I realize that I have expectations about how it should be, and I'm having a hard time just going with the flow, so I think I may be best off just getting away from that and stay focused on living my life and talking to people while out and about.

If your tired of reading about my frustrations with OLD, have no fear, that will be my last post about it. I just like using this site as a journal, and writing it all out helps me think things through.