Who is the boss?

I wrote a little bit ago about my Apple Watch and I’ve written before about my Fitbit when I had one.  I am the very last person to get in the way of anything that brings any of us success in our fitness journeys.  But.

We are more than a collection of steps or a complete or incomplete circle.  Our worth as humans is not less on a day when we only stand up in 11 of 12 hours (or 6, or 3).  We are not going to be significantly less fit if we get 9,999 steps in a day instead of 10,000.

Furthermore, the technology is not perfect.  Sometimes it doesn’t accurately capture our heart rate.  Sometimes we forget to tell our devices we are working out, so they don’t count them.  Even if the devices were perfect in their ability to capture the body data, they can’t perceive our inner state; some days, just showing up is plenty of workout given what the rest of life is like.

Here’s the deal:  the devices are there to help us, not to rule us.  Use them if they help, but feel free to tell them to go pound sand when they get in the way of overall wellbeing.