I Walked Four Miles, Then Spent the Rest of the Day Doing Absolutely Nothing

I recently spent a few days in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, and on my last full day there, I started the morning with a long walk along the beach.

What I thought would just be a little morning walk turned into almost four miles.

By the time I got back, it was around 11 o’clock. The sun was shining, the water looked beautiful, and the beach was exactly where I wanted to be.

So I packed my cooler with ice, grabbed my sunscreen, a couple of towels and my float, and headed back down.

That was pretty much the plan for the rest of the day.

And honestly, I loved that.

I Had Already Done Enough

I think sometimes we get so used to always needing to accomplish something that even relaxing starts to feel like something we have to justify.

I had already walked almost four miles that morning.

I had moved my body.

I had gotten outside.

I had done something good for myself.

I didn’t need to turn the rest of the day into another workout, another project or another thing to check off a list.

I could just go sit on the beach.

That sounds simple, but I think a lot of women will understand exactly what I mean.

There is always something that could be done.

Something to clean.

Something to answer.

Something to work on.

Something to organize.

Something you feel like you should be doing instead.

But that day, I didn’t want to do any of it.

I wanted to be on the beach.

The Hardest Decision I Had to Make Was Which Bathing Suit to Wear

And I mean that literally.

I had three choices.

The black one.

The red one.

Or the ombré one.

That was about as complicated as I wanted the rest of the day to get.

I ended up wearing the red one, which felt right for my last beach day.

Bright sun, beautiful water, last full day of vacation — red won.

And I think there was something kind of perfect about that being the biggest decision I needed to make for a few hours.

No serious plans.

No schedule.

No work.

Just sunscreen, towels, a float, something cold to drink and a bathing suit.

I’m Learning That Rest Doesn’t Have to Be Earned

This is probably the part I’m still figuring out.

I’m good at doing.

I’m good at having projects.

I’m good at coming up with the next thing I want to work on.

And there is nothing wrong with that. I actually like being productive.

But I don’t want to build a life where I’m constantly working toward freedom and never actually enjoying any of it.

That would kind of defeat the purpose.

I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about what I want the next few years of my life to look like.

I want to be stronger.

I want to take better care of myself.

I want to travel more.

I want more freedom in my business.

I want to create things.

I want to build income that isn’t tied to me being in one place all the time.

But underneath all of that is something much simpler.

I want to enjoy my life.

Not someday.

Now.

Fitness Is Part of My Life, Not My Whole Life

One thing I liked about that morning was that my walk didn’t feel like some big fitness event.

I wasn’t obsessing over calories or trying to hit a certain number.

I was walking because I wanted to walk.

The fact that it turned into almost four miles was just a bonus.

And then I went and laid on the beach.

That feels a lot closer to the kind of life I want than forcing myself through workouts I hate or feeling guilty because I sat down for a few hours.

I still care about getting stronger.

I still want to build muscle.

I still want to keep improving my fitness.

But I also want fitness to support my life instead of becoming another thing that controls it.

If you want to read more about what that beach walk was actually doing for my body, I wrote about that here.

There Was Nothing Remarkable About the Afternoon

And maybe that’s why I remember it.

I floated around.

I laid in the sun.

I cooled off in the water.

I looked at the beach.

I drank something cold.

I probably checked my phone.

I probably took too many pictures.

Nothing dramatic happened.

There was no huge realization.

No life-changing moment.

It was just a really good day.

And I think sometimes those are the days we overlook because they don’t seem important enough.

But when I think about the kind of life I’m trying to build, I want more days like that.

Days where I have somewhere beautiful to be.

Days where I feel good in my body.

Days where I’m not rushing.

Days where I can decide that sitting on the beach is enough.

Maybe This Is What I’m Working Toward

Not doing nothing all the time.

That would drive me crazy.

But having the freedom to choose.

That’s different.

Being able to work hard when I want to work hard.

Travel when I want to travel.

Take care of my body.

Build something of my own.

And when the sun is shining and the water looks too good to leave?

Pack the cooler and go back to the beach.

That sounds like a pretty good life to me.

XO~ Amy Marie 🖤