If I have learned anything during my break from work, it is this: life is more than work. And while life is more than work, it is so easy to be defined by what you do. One of the first questions people ask when making small talk is: “What do you do?” Our answer to this question is on autopilot. For the longest my answer was, “I am an educator.”
Somewhere along the way we convince ourselves that what we do is who we are. When we believe one part of our identity defines us, it is unsettling if that changes. For a long time I convinced myself I am an educator. When that changed I began to dread small talk. I didn’t realize how often people ask you what you do until I didn’t have an answer to the question anymore. I found myself thinking, “Well if I’m no longer an educator, who am I?”
Not knowing the answer to that question I immersed myself further into my fitness journey. It was easier to train my body than to come up with a definitive answer to the question everyone seemed to ask: “What do you do?”
Finding a New Identity Through Walking
In my previous post, “Harnessing Your Mind: Lessons from a Fitness Journey,” I mentioned my lack of experience in fitness. Well, in addition to not knowing the differences in types of training offered at gyms, I also didn’t realize that strength training alone would not improve my overall health. This came to my attention when my trainer mentioned one day that it is important to get in 8,000 – 10,000 steps a day. Curious, I asked why.
“It prevents becoming sedentary and it strengthens your heart. It also helps with your endurance. Make sure you’re getting your steps in,” she said.
Not knowing what the word sedentary went I went down a rabbit hole on the internet that day. I learned sedentary means to spend most of your day sitting down. This leads to a lot of health problems such as heart disease, high blood pressure, obesity, type 2 diabetes, and even depression.1
Furthermore I learned even more benefits to walking every day than my trainer mentioned. Walking daily can trim your waistline (heyyyyyy!), increase your energy levels, improve your mood and sleep, reduce stress, and prevent a lot of health problems.2
With these things in mind I started walking. At first I did it to help with trimming my waistline down. However, I discovered so much more. The research is true. My mood and sleep improved immensely. I found myself looking forward to walking more than going to the gym. Walking was a time to think. It was a time to be one with nature. It was a time to listen to the birds sing. It was a time to listen to the water flow down the creek. It was a time to listen to the leaves rustle in the wind. I found solace in walking. I became a walker. I am a walker.
Walking made me notice things I missed previously. Things like a popular walking trail built into the woods two minutes from my house. Things like a state park 5 minutes from my house that also had a trail. On my walks I was amazed at the animals and plants I’d see. A red bird here, a yellow butterfly there, a vulture soaring high in the sky. Leaves swirling to the ground, moss growing on a tree branch, rock formations in the trail path. Things that were always there. Things I missed because I was so focused on what I did. Walking taught me that there’s a whole world out there beyond work. We just have to be brave enough to slow down and find it.
Conclusion
Life is more than work. Moving forward I hope to be defined by my interests, not what I do. Instead of being asked, “What do you do?” I hope to be asked questions like:
- What do you do for fun?
- What’s the most interesting thing you’ve learned recently?
- What are you most excited about right now?
- What’s the best thing that’s happened to you recently?3
Questions that are meaningful. Questions that reveal the desires of a person’s heart.
I hope you know you are more than what you do. I hope this piece inspires you to discover that more.
Until next time,
Jeanine
Jeanine Thomas 
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