Context

Just past 6 a.m. and 32F outside. We're just recovering from the storm that is now moving through the rest of the country, dumping snow and rain. The clouds were so very beautiful.

And we had fleeting but beautiful sunsets.

I measure and track habits that (I hope) will improve my overall health and fitness, and I track "symptoms" of medical conditions that I am treating on my own. Hopefully as the habits become more stable the symptoms will become less frequent. That's the plan anyway. So I rely on my measuring tools.

What I realized today is that some of these measurements are dependent on where in the house I am tracking them! Sounds are going to be louder in a small, low-ceilinged room than a large one. Hadn't considered this effect, but it shouldn't come as a surprise; blood pressure and weight both fluctuate throughout the day.

But I'm bummed anyway. Thought I had stopped snoring completely, or so saith my app, but as soon as I moved back into the tiny, warm back bedroom (with its shed roof), I'm registering some mild rumbles again. They must have been there all along but dissipated into the larger space of the big bedroom. So losing 13 pounds didn't really make all the difference I'd thought it had. 

Sometimes I want to throw all this data in the air and say, forget it. I'm getting older. I won't live forever in this body, but I will in my spirit. So my attention ought to be more on my character than my weight and blood pressure. I ought to be tracking how many times per day I overcome selfishness, and how many times I can uplift people, or show them love and support. Measuring my spiritual progress is love-based, whereas measuring my physical progress is fear-based.

Unfortunately at the moment I feel overdrawn in both accounts. So I downloaded an app called "Daily Guidance from your Angels" since I could use some. My card for this morning is "Reward Yourself". Oh, really? I just bought the app, isn't that a reward? But the fact is that I am preoccupied with meeting the wants and needs of my loved ones, to the degree that I've had to get one of those "mom planners" since I'm driving my "kids" places now. I have to coordinate their medical appointments and take them shopping for things they need. And they don't play well together, so I have to take them separately. 

Being loving and supportive is its own reward. But a rest would be nice, so I'll spend some time today planning a mini-retreat for next year. Sometimes just planning to do something fun creates a feeling of rejuvenation.