Solemates is a great support group. The most recent evidence was a note from the disarmingly and inimitably charming and selfless Kathy Finn asking where I was at 8:30 a.m. last Wednesday. It made me feel eight feet tall.

The exercise gurus say we are supposed to get 10,000 steps of walking daily. A two-mile walk will take care of half those steps, and the rest of the day’s activities can do the rest.

Here are five reasons to take those steps daily:

1. Research links brisk walking to risk reduction for developing type 2 diabetes. People with a family history of diabetes who walked briskly and regularly improved their insulin sensitivity.

2. An American Heart Association survey showed that a quarter of the1,000 people question had axed their gym memberships sometime in the previous six months. Moderate walking equals an average of 100 steps per minute. Researchers say aim for 1,000 steps in 10 minutes and work up to 3,000 steps in 30 minutes.

3. It can help with fibromyalgia pain, a condition that affects 4 percent of us. It involves fatigue and brain fog. A study found that those who walked 60 minutes and stretched three times a week for 18 weeks reported significant improvements in walking and mental capacity and were less tired and depressed.

4. Walking briskly for just 30 minutes five days per week can significantly lower your risk of stroke, according to researchers at University of South Carolina. Those who walked briskly had a 40 percent lower risk of suffering a stroke than those with the lowest fitness level.

5. Italian researchers studying 749 people suffering from memory problems measured their walking and moderate activities such as yard work for four years. Those who expended the most energy walking had a 27 percent lower risk of developing dementia than those who expended the least.

Finally, if you walk with Solemates, you may receive a note from a caring and selfless lady if you fail to show at 8:30 a.m.