We live in the Age of Self-Responsibility.
Many things that have naturally happened throughout daily life for thousands of years in human history are not necessarily present anymore.
Walking has numerous benefits for us: cardiovascular health, joint health, mental health, and more.
The assumption is that humans used to walk more, simply because this was the main way of getting from A to B (except horse and boat), and there were few people who had a job that required them to sit for 8 hours.
I recently did a camping trip and interestingly even on the days I felt I was just hanging around and not moving much (I even did computer work on those days), I walked 10 kilometers in total (we didn't do any formal hiking).
It is surprisingly easy to do 10,000 steps per day if you are spending your time mainly outside.
Nowadays, if your work is seated it is likely you walk less than 3 kilometers on most days.
With the onset of food delivery that might even have become less for the people that use it.
It is entirely possible nowadays to live a life without regularly going outside of your home. If you work from home and you get your stuff delivered, there is no external force that makes you go outside.
It's up to you.
And many areas of life are like this.
When it came to food, 10,000 years ago you had to make sure what you ate was not spoiled or poisonous. There were definitely a lot of problems with food. It was more difficult to store, ensure quality, check for diseases etc.
And you could eat too much of certain wild herbs, which could create liver problems or other issues. But there was no multi-trillion € industry creating foods that you would get addicted to, while delivering unlimited stock at a low price.
It's unlikely you get food poisoning from supermarket foods.
But eating healthy long term means making clear choices in the supermarket. It is your responsibility.
And it doesn't make it easier that there is so much uncertainty about what a "perfect" healthy diet is exactly, especially for your individual case.
In the Stone Age, most people who were your friends were most likely living very close to you. They lived within walking distance.
Nowadays it's not unusual to have no friend at all in walking distance.
If you live in Berlin visiting a friend could mean you travel 45 minutes with public transport. Or a 3 hour walk.
That means if you don't see a friend regularly because they work at the same place or you are in the same sports club or similar, a friendship has to be actively kept alive.
Many friendships have fallen asleep, because the distance made it so difficult to stay in contact.
It's all you.
If you work self-employed like me it's "totally all you".
Let's be honest, I personally would love to have some things more on autopilot. But my experience is very clear: If I do not actively make good choices I will become sick and out of money, relationships will suffer and I will become depressed. That is reality. There is no escape.
So taking responsibility is a necessity, but of course it also has a light side. You can actually decide things and make choices about your path. It is not always easy, and you might "fail", but that doesn't matter, the possibility is there. And that is the great thing about our time.
I can publish here easily on the internet. I can choose food from many different sources. I can choose from many different professions. I can choose what I put in my home, from an uncountable amount of options etc.
There is a lot of economic pressure we have nowadays, so we are far from free in our choices, and many paths come with great suffering. Actually all paths somehow come with great suffering, if we focus on the suffering.
But more powerful than the suffering can be our imagination.
What if I take this and that action? What will happen? Let's see.
When I wake up in the morning I let my imagination start. For a moment I ask: what will be today? Another day full of opportunities. Let's see. And then I get up and live another day shaped by the actions I take.
Joseph Bartz 2025