Walking Back to Me
From Chicken Soup for the Soul: Think Positive, Live Happy
By Amy Michels Cantley

Walking is man’s best medicine.
~Hippocrates

I pulled my chemo-battered, exhausted body off the couch and headed out the door. Put one foot in front of the other. That is all you have to do, I told myself. I had determined that if I made myself walk every hour for five minutes, regardless of how terrible I felt, it would help me feel better. It would at least make me feel that I had some control over my life again.

My husband and I had been told by my therapist, Tiffany, that my coping strategies needed to change to effectively manage my fatigue. Walking was a key part of my hoped-for transformation. Cancer had taken so much from me, and it was time to start working my way back. With that goal in mind, I set out into my yard and began walking around the property. Each step defeated me. Chemotherapy-induced aching bones made every step painful. That first five-minute walk felt like a daylong forced march. When I was done, I limped back in and crumpled exhaustedly on the couch. My husband just flashed a “way to go” smile in my direction. I slept for the next hour until it was time to do it again. It was a very long first day. (Keep reading)