From the editor

Take the time to get outside

Mon, 11/25/2019 - 9:00am

    This week I read the following on the Environmental Protection Agency's website which makes me want to change my habits: "Americans, on average, spend approximately 90 percent of their time indoors." The report was part of a section on pollutants and how indoor pollutants "are often two to five times higher than typical outdoor concentrations."

    This posting was on another website which touted the benefit of getting outside more to enjoy nature as a way to a healthier and happier lifestyle.

    As someone who spends probably 80 percent of my time inside looking at computer screens for most of the working day, or the television for three to four hours each day, I know that my life would be better if I got out of the office/home more often and enjoyed “being one with nature.”

    Like anything you want to accomplish, you must make it a habit or you're not going to continue to get outside.

    So why haven't I been doing it? I guess my job has become my (bad) habit — sitting, reading, typing, working, eating, etc. Yes, my mind has kept busy but my body hasn't. Too easy to just sit there.

    The article urged readers to take at least 15 minutes a day to enjoy the outdoors, and perhaps move up to an hour a day outside.

    It's not the pollutants that concern me; it's the sedentary lifestyle and not enjoying my surroundings that are weighing on my mind.

    We live in one of the most beautiful areas of the state, with the ocean at our doorstep and land trust properties to enjoy, so why not “get out there?!”

    I think it is time to bring down the percentage of time I spend inside. I am on vacation, so maybe this is a good time to start. Are you with me?