No More GPS...

Most of us can admit we are addicted to our gadgets.  Whether it is a cell phone, or an iPod, or a laptop, our society is quickly becoming very tethered to our technology.  We feel naked and lost without it, even going so far to think we cannot function without being plugged in.  I admit I'm guilty of this sometimes.  Erik got me an iPhone not too long ago and I have fallen in love with it.  How can you not love a gadget that will refer to you as "Queen of England"? (Thanks, Siri!).

When I was marathon training I was completely addicted to my Garmin GPS watch.  I would religiously watch my pace and wouldn't dare go too fast (even if I felt I could), lest I injure myself.  I would set the watch to beep at certain intervals so I could stop and refuel and would adhere to those beeps like my life depended on it.  I truly could not run without the watch.  After the marathon was finished I decided to scale back the intensity of my running routine.  I'm still going 4 days a week, but I keep the mileage between 20 and 25 miles so as not to pound my poor body into oblivion.  I also decided to take the pressure off myself by putting away my Garmin watch, and set off on my runs "blind", letting my body dictate the pace it could handle.  After a few weeks of running without the watch a funny thing began to happen - I got better.  That's right, I became a better runner without the technology.  I'm able to run longer in between water breaks, and my pace has gotten faster and faster.  Without the watch warning me to slow down, I've shaved nearly 10 minutes off my 10 mile run time - and I feel fantastic.  It is freeing to trust my own instincts and realize that my body and mind know what they are doing. 

So that got me thinking.  When I stopped relying on the watch to tell me what to do and relied on my own instinct, I got faster and stronger.  What if I finally started to apply this to other areas of my life?  For nearly 40 years I have sought out the opinions of others on just about every subject.  I have compared my parenting styles and life choices to those around me, and always feared I was "doing it wrong", looking to others to show me what to do.  But in the past year I have realized that I'm doing just fine, thank you.  I'm starting to have more confidence in my decisions, even when they are radically different from those around me.  You see, I don't need our culture's GPS to show me where to go.  I feel good knowing that my heart and mind have it's own directional system, and I'm relying on it more and more.  And you know what? It's just as freeing as my running has become.  And it's making me just as strong and just as healthy.  Sure I'll make some wrong decisions, but that's part of life and part of learning how to grow. 

So trust your instincts, folks.  Deep down you probably know the right answers to the questions you are asking yourself.  Don't be afraid if they don't match the rest of the world's GPS.  Sometimes, all that technology isn't all it's cracked up to be. Except for Siri, of course.  She's just too much fun!   See you out there on road of life...