10,000 Freaking Steps

I read an interesting article today in the New York Times.  I hate to admit that it made me chuckle a little, but it did.  The Headline was “Activity Trackers May Undermine Weight Loss.”  To be clear, I didn’t laugh because people are having trouble losing a few extra pounds, the struggle is REAL and I am reminded whenever I look in a mirror.  I laughed because the whole “activity tracking” idea seems like it comes straight out of the brain of “Uncle Screwtape.” In C.S. Lewis’ Screwtape Letters.

If you aren’t familiar with the writing, the book is a fanciful yet insightful collection of letters between and experienced demon, named Screwtape, and a junior devil, his protégé and nephew, “Wormwood.”

In one instance the Wormwood complains to his uncle that the man he is trying to steer away from belief in God is going the “wrong” direction.  He names two primary activities that are making the man susceptible to belief in God.  First, Wormwood indicates, the man starts every day off with a long walk.  During his walk, he takes such pleasure in noticing the world around him, and enjoying nature, and considering the blessings of his life, that Wormwood feels belief in God is just around the corner.

The second “problem” is different but similar in nature.  The man ends each day by reading a novel.  This sounds harmless enough, but Wormwood recognizes that he takes such simple joy in his reading, that again, faith cannot be far behind as he experience a great pleasure.

Wormwood laments to his Uncle Screwtape that all of his efforts to get this man to stop taking walks in the morning and reading in evening have failed.  This is where Screwtape gives some stirring advice that we would do well to consider in our current times.  Screwtape essentially says, the young demon needs to stop trying to get him to quit these activities.  Instead he should work on changing his ATTITUDE about the activities.  This is what he says:

“This is where you went horribly wrong! You should have put it into his mind that he had to get up in the morning and take that walk for the sake of exercise. It would have become drudgery to him. And you should have gotten him to read the book so that he could quote it to somebody else. It would have become equally uninspiring. You allowed him to enjoy such pure pleasure that the Enemy’s voice became more audible within those experiences. That is where you went wrong.”

Did you catch that?  Instead of letting a walk be an act of pure pleasure, make it into an obligation and it will become a chore instead of a delight.  Same activity.  VERY different approach.  It’s no wonder to me then that wearing a Fitbit or Apple Watch, or whatever else, doesn’t actually produce weight loss like it promises.  The act of wearing a measuring device subtly shifts your attitude away from, “I can’t wait to go enjoy myself for a bit,” to, “I. Must. Get. My. Freaking. 10,000. Steps”  The joy is gone, and a goal has arrived which can potentially take a pleasure and change it into the LAW.

What a shame.  And no wonder the NYT article states that those who DIDN’T use a device in the experiment ended losing 5 more pounds over 2 years than those who wore one.

Understand that I am not saying goals, or fitness, or even measuring devices are bad.  What can be bad is that we let measuring a thing take precedence over our pleasure in a thing.  We are hard-wired to take pride in “doing,” while we devalue the important work of “being.”  In fact, taking a rest, can be – as Judith Schulevits aptly noted in a New York Times Article on observing the Sabbath, “a surprisingly strenuous act of will.”

I had never considered how much an act of trust, faith, and dedication being willing to take a rest can be.  Years ago I heard an interview with Senator Joseph Lieberman where he talked about the Sabbath as, “One day of the week when you are free from having to prove your worth.”  I’ve chewed on that one quote for years, and I agree with it.

We are constantly trying to prove our worth.  We kid ourselves into thinking our real worth comes from doing.  As Christians our real worth is defined by what Christ has done for us.  He died for your sins, he rose from the dead, and he did it all without your help!  Imagine that.  One great things we can do to celebrate his Grace is to take a break from the constant striving, and just remember to be.  Be in God’s presence.  Be his Word.  Be without a plan other than to follow where HE leads.  And for Pete’s sake, take that wristband off for at least a day and just walk for the love of it!