So one of my personal goals for this year was to do more walking. It was actually one of my goals last year but it didn’t happen. Last year I decided that I wanted to join a walking group, so I went out and bought all of the gear (and spent a fortune in the process) and decided to go on a couple of smaller walks with a friend and her husband first before I went ahead and joined a group. I went on one walk. That was it. My friend couldn’t go again due to her husband sustaining an injury and so I used this as an excuse to not go again. I could have just decided to join the group, but I let my fear of the unknown beat me. I consider myself to be pretty outgoing, but when I don’t know people I can, initially, find it difficult to integrate and my confidence is much lower. Anyway, I decided that this was ridiculous, not only had I spent a lot of money on the walking gear, I was losing out on something I wanted to do by letting this unease get the better of me. I decided that I wasn’t going to let it beat me anymore and yesterday I went for my first walk with the group!
It was a 6.6 mile walk around an area called Mobberley, which is a lovely village south of Manchester. It wasn’t very hilly so it was perfect to start with and I had a great time. The route took us from the train station, through many fields, to a very nice pub for a break. After the break we went through more fields, across the railway line twice and then through more fields back to the train station. It was a big group so we were pretty slow and in total we were out for around 4 and a half hours. The group were lovely and, surprise surprise, I found myself wondering why I’d put it off for so long. There was even a little excitement when, queuing up to get over one of the styles, we realised that we were not alone in the field and that four highland cattle were heading in our direction… 3 of which had horns, albeit small ones. Needless to say we got over the style pretty quickly, although by the time they made it over to us there were still around 10 people left in the field! Luckily they didn’t charge (despite one of the team having a red coat!!) and we all made it across safely. We couldn’t help but laugh afterwards, but it was a little scary at the time!! There was also LOTS of mud. I was assured by one of the group that in the 3 years she’d been walking she’d never encountered that much mud in a single walk before! Talk about a baptism of fire!
Despite cattle, lots of mud and a little rain, I had a great time and can’t wait for the next walk! There wasn’t much to see (as I said, it was mostly just fields) but here are a few pictures!
My new friend! He quite happily posed for a photo!
The lovely pub where we stopped for our break
Check out how muddy my boots and trousers were by the end!
Jessica @ Shhh Mommy's Blogging
January 9, 2012 at 7:07 am
I’m impressed with your ability to push yourself out of your comfort zone! When I’m around people I know I’m outgoing and gregarious, when I’m in a group of people I don’t know I’m not sure how I act because I avoid big groups of strangers like the plague. Sounds like you had a lovely time and were well rewarded for your act of bravery!
Blatant Biblioholic
January 9, 2012 at 8:51 pm
I know exactly what you mean and I am the same, but I’m so glad I pushed through it!