Happy 1st of August, all! I’ve been dreaming about the time, when I will be able to sit down and write again! Hello to all my beautiful friends! And I hope your summer is going just great! The title of this post definitely says what I was occupied with for the last 2 weeks – The Walking Challenge organised by the organisation I work in – and I was occupied with it to the extent that I had time only to work and walk, work and walk… However, the time and effort was definitely worth it, because I eventually WON the challenge! Yay!

The Walking Challenge was an initiative organised in the month of July in order to move our bodies more in summer, especially after the quarantine we had, and have fun while doing it! In the beginning, I didn’t plan to participate much, I thought that I will register and see how it goes – anyhow I’m trying to get in shape, so why not to add some extra walks into my routine at least for a month? Soon enough though, I saw that I’m in the first positions and I could win this challenge, so I decided to try and put all my energy into it. You may ask now, how many kilometers/miles I walked? I won with the result of walking around 350 km/218 miles. And I feel so good! More than that, some things became very much apparent during these walks!

Explore in order to find – I found so many great spots to walk that I haven’t even thought I would. One of them is definitely ‘Plikakalnio atodanga’ outcrop, a place in one of the national parks, where one may see a stunning fusion of nature and the city. I haven’t heard anyone talking about this spot, and then while exploring new routes to walk during the weekend, I came across this spot. I decided to try and I’m so glad I did, now all I do is recommending this place to everyone to visit! Another place I walked towards a lot is ‘Verkiu Rumai’ Palace, where one may see another stunning view, something reminds of the outcrop as well. Not to mention all the parks and new routes that will be on my list from now on! Pictures don’t do justice to the actual view and feel, but if you decide to visit Lithuania one day, make sure to include this spots on the list! And it also reminds me nicely about that fact that in order to find anything we want in life, we should keep exploring and not settle for less.

Time limit is only in my head – this year, some more, some less, but we all have experienced what the quarantine is and how it affects our daily life. Before that though I felt as if time is my enemy and I don’t have time for everything I want to work on, especially training. So, I am so grateful to the quarantine for slowing things down and making us stop a little, breathe and relax. I had the time to go through all the activities I was occupied with and cross out those that didn’t bring much sense or happiness into my life. Have anyone of you also experienced something similar? Now, with the walking challenge, where I had to make the time to walk, I feel it more than ever, that if I aspire to do something, I need to simply make the time for it and not look for excuses. Little steps make all the difference – status quo.

Loved and close people matter the most – picking up my phone and calling someone from my family, writing a thank you message to my friend, asking people I appreciate to walk with me or have a dinner together – I try to work at building and keeping relationships more than ever, as I feel how my heart becomes full when dare people feel happy. While walking I came across so many beautiful couples, families and friend bonds, I’m sure it will keep me motivated to continue working on my own relationships, and on the relationship with you, who join our community, as we are in this world. Thank you for being a part of this journey!

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With love, Loreta