#241: A Day Well Spent, A Life Well Lived
I think we live in a world where data is king - the more data the better. And I don’t think we often enough stop to think about why we actually care about some of this data. When I look back at my life, I don’t want to think about how many days in a row I reached my goal step count - I would like to think I would focus on the relationships I made (which very likely may be while I was walking or running!). Corey ponders this below. Have a wonderful weekend!
- Lauren
A DAY WELL SPENT, A LIFE WELL LIVED
I’ve been wearing some form of movement tracker, and then smart watch, for the past five years. I’ll admit, at first it was fun to “get my steps in.” Now I think I probably use the timer more often than anything else. (My morning French Press — Hey Siri, 4 minute timer...) I still aim to close my rings every day, but it’s more the fear of failure rather than fun to finish. But if these metrics don’t spark joy, and make me WANT to achieve them, which ones would? What are my own methods for knowing I’m content, happy, and fulfilled? If I could change what 3 things my watch was measuring, I think I might use: movement, sleep, and laughter.
I find it’s become very important for me to guide my body through some kind of intentional movement practice every day. (Perhaps this has to do with me being in my 30s...) Maybe it’s yoga one day, and strength training the next, but doing something more than the day-to-day movement of taking the kids here or there or walking the dog around the block. I tend to sleep far better when I’ve taken time to actively use my body.
Sleep has been at a premium for me since the birth of my son in early 2016. Having my daughter, and then the stress from COVID, has only made it more challenging for me to get decent shut-eye. But I really do feel when I put myself to bed early enough, and wake naturally before my alarm clock, like I’m 10 years younger. And about 50% nicer to everyone, including myself.
The one I’ve probably overlooked most in recent days is laughter. I recently heard Matthew McConaughey talk about having his “wink” as he goes through his life. It’s a sense of humor, a lightness, that lifts one out of the repetitiveness of their day to day schedule. It had probably been months since I had a good laugh with Francesca (my wife), until one moment last week when we poked fun at one of the malapropisms one of our kids spoke. We made a whole story out of it, and kept going until we were all doubled over. I remember times with my best friend when we would get into laughing fits over some kind of nonsense, and the lasting euphoria that colors the rest of the day afterward. For my measurement, I’m thinking it has to be live laughter, with a fellow being.
This points me in the direction of wondering — can the observations of a device programmed by a human, but that is not human itself, really inform me as to how well I’m taking care of my body, and living my life? Perhaps I’ve outsourced my data collection to my watch, when I should have been looking after my measurements myself, all along.