What The Connell Park Walking Club Means To Me

The Connell Park Walking Club has been a blessing in my life. It strengthened my motivation to exercise, mitigated depression symptoms, and ignited a new lust for life inside me. I feel strong and confident walking and talking with my fellow community members every Saturday. I've learned so much over the past three years and met many wonderful people in and around the Scranton, PA area. I look forward to every Saturday morning with my CPWC friends! The Club has been extremely beneficial to my physical and mental health. But most of all, these weekly walks have kept me sober.

I've struggled with substance abuse since my teenage years. Achieving long term Sobriety has been a constant fight throughout my life. Addiction took everything from me, yet relapse seemed inevitable after each rehab stint. Until I was able to find my true self and identity, I could not succeed in reaching my sobriety goal. In 2019 I lost my best friend to this genetic disease of addiction. Something changed inside me after this devastating loss. I cannot explain the feeling, but it was an awakening of sorts. A clear-cut change in my way of thinking, leading to a change in my way of living. Over time, I identified my own personalized coping skills. It took a while, but I can confidently say I'm on the right path and walking is invaluable along this path to lifelong sobriety.

I exercise every day, which is beneficial in recovery, but also valuable in general health and well-being. However, Saturdays at Connell Park are special, the crux of my physical and mental coping system. I look forward to spending time with my walk friends and hitting the trails around Connell Park. Being out in nature is also a major part of my path in recovery. Through my senses nature has shown me true beauty, healing deep mental wounds that followed me since childhood. Sights, sounds, smells, and even the touch of tree branches or the gentle breeze of the wind keep me centered and one with nature and self.

The trail system around Connell Park is beautiful and inviting, the perfect place to start any day of the week! Every Saturday at 10am, rain or shine, I begin my day walking these trails with my friends. We are often accompanied by a health care professional as CPWC is a chapter of the Walk With A Doc program. It's much more comfortable speaking with doctors outside of the sterile confines of an office or hospital, out in the open, with the sky above and the earth below! I'm grateful to Gus at Valley In Motion for giving me a chance to lead this club, trusting in me to strengthen and grow this new walking community. We are now a tight knit group of folks that can put aside our differences weekly and rely on walking to relate to one another. We are always welcoming and looking for new members to share our experiences with.

I arrived here three years ago, torn down and broken from years of substance abuse. Over these last three years I've risen from the ashes like a Phoenix and discovered my true calling in service work. I really couldn't ask for more in life!

Thanks to Valley In Motion and the wonderful warm connection CPWC has brought to my life.

Forever grateful,

Corey O'Brien