Happen to Life

Okay, so I am getting old. Old knee injuries and chronic back pain has hobbled my running years into a walk. But when I walk I need a motivation of some kind and even a distraction of some kind otherwise it seems like a boring waste of time. So I do two things when I walk: first, I fitbit and second, I read.

A fitbit is just a little pedometer device that syncs with your computer when you get close to it and it tracks your activity for the day. Not just how many steps but how many stairs, how many minutes of VERY ACTIVE time, and even calories burned. It will also track your sleeping if you want to wear it while sleeping. I have been trying it just to see how active I am at night tossing and turning and “supposedly” how long it takes me to fall asleep, but its accuracy is a little off on that. I do this because I have a competitive nature and I need to know how many to compete with yesterday, and last week. If I have the numbers in mind I am motivated to do just a little better or a little more the next time. I NEED competition, even if it only with myself.

I get a lot of strange looks and laughs when I walk because my glasses are up on my forehead while I walk so I can read. I have a lot of books to read for my doctoral classes but I am a reader anyway. My job demands I keep up with reading and demands that I keep learning. But reading and walking is not normally put together. Sometimes I miss the people walking by until I hear the laugh or the comment of some kind. Most are jogging or walking with such pain and discomfort on their faces and they smile as they see me, glasses on my forehead, highlighter pen in hand, reading and marking my book.

The proverbial “killing two birds with one stone.” But I’m active. I have a tour to Egypt coming up soon and in that tour we generally walk 15,000 steps a day. When I am in front of my computer and not tracking myself I may do 2000 in a day. So I walk and read and hook my fitbit on my belt.

I think that is an illustration or metaphor for life too. We have to do things ON PURPOSE with intent or a goal. Instead, we often just let life happen to us. We just go about our routines and work-a-day life without any progress or movement. It just happens. When it should be the other way around, instead of letting life happen we should happen to life!

I don’t know what your motivation is but it is time to quit letting life happen to you and go out and happen to life!