I wear a Fitbit, and let me be clear: I love my Fitbit. I put it on first thing in the morning and take it off last thing at night. I even tuck it into my bra when I'm acting in a period play. I now park in the farthest corner of the lot at my grocery store, and have also become delightedly addicted to putting on music at night and dancing my ass off, all to see the number of my steps ticking.
However, I decided early on to opt out of getting weekly summaries of my step counts. When they used to show up in my Inbox, I found myself feeling slightly anxious as I checked to see if I'd gotten more steps than the week before, and the week before that, and the week before that. I finally realized that I was being programmed to believe that the possibility for improvement is infinite, and that if I hadn't bested myself, then I had failed. It seems to me rather like the idea that one is always supposed to earn more money and more and more and more, with no thought of satiety.
I don't like the idea that I'm supposed to keep getting better. Sometimes it's all I can do just to keep up. What I really need to learn is how to gracefully walk toward my ending. Isn't that enough?
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