Walkers and Runners

This Sunday afternoon, after the requisite nap on the couch, I spent some time on the back patio watching the people in the park across the creek. I’ve mentioned the park in prior posts, so you have a good idea what it’s like.
This time I noticed how people walk on the trail that hugs the creek. Some walk as if they have a to-do list, and have to check “walking” off of their list. They walk with purpose and little extraneous action. Others walk along slowly, stopping here and there to look at a squirrel, something in the brush, or just take in the view. Still others walk in a way that suggests they are having kind of a hard time even getting down the path. There’s a limp or an effort to their walk that tells me that all may not be well with their bodies. Yet others stroll with another person, holding hands or having a conversation as they walk.
Sometimes people run down the trail. They are usually dressed in appropriate attire and are running with a purpose. They are invariably well-proportioned. Yet others, mostly children, run for a short distance, then stop and look back. They yell at Mom, Dad, or whoever has taken them there and maybe play some kind of game with them. Joy is their primary emotion.
One of these days I’m going to do a personality profile on the walkers. I’d like to know if their personalities match their walking style. Are the purpose walkers the type A personalities…driven to succeed? Are they the 70-hour-a-week workers?
Are the walkers that have a hard time getting down the path determined just to finish the course, so to speak? The ones who take their time…do they stop and smell the roses of life at other times, too?
What kind of walker would you be? What kind of walker do you want to be? Me? I think I'm in the smell-the-roses category at my stage of life. I've many more years behind me than I have ahead of me. I want to enjoy what I have left to the fullest, by the grace of my Creator.