Keeping Track

Keeping track. In many cases, an important capability. Keeping track of loved one's birthdays, keeping track of meetings or appointments; keeping track of your finances-- there are many gadgets and products available today to help us keep track of life. I know social media like Facebook and Instagram can keep track of everything you've done for the past decade via photographs. The Fitbit keeps track of your steps, sleep, and health among other things. Of course our Smart phones keep track of our lives with daily notifications. While these are all helpful, I wonder if we are keeping track of too much. Does keeping track hinder us?
It seems like we are afraid be "in the dark." I know there's probably a reoccurring theme on this blog (which, I recognize, helps me keep track my own thought process and family photos), involving our desire to be God. We want to know EVERYTHING. The learning process is essential to mankind's growth as a species, but I think we need to self-examine in order to understand whether the information we are seeking to dominate is actually bettering us or creating bigger problems.

From personal experience, I can tell you that each of my children has helped me keep track of less. I'll admit, I once kept track of how many hours of sleep I got each night, how many bottles of water I drank each day, and how many miles I'd run a week. Once Silas and Levi entered my life, and once Kyra left my life, I let go of trying to keep track of everything and everyone. I was forced to focus on only the things that truly mattered. Living "organically" to put it in modern terms.
I think we all come to this realization at different points in our life, but if we aren't cognizant of it, we'll fall right back into hyper involvement tracking mode the second life gets back to "normal." We can become so dependent on those products that give us up-to-date information on what's happening to ourselves and those around us, that we forget what it means to be intuitive.

Let me explain. I'm not knocking devices that help make life easier (I certainly own a Smart phone), but when we rely too much on them and obsess about the info they give us, we begin to let them dictate our lives. Oh no, I will be tired because I slept poorly. Oh no, I missed out on another birthday party, I'm growing apart from my childhood neighbor. Oh no, I haven't walked enough today, I'm going to get overweight. While these may be exaggerations in most cases, I'm sure they are accurate in other cases. We have to give ourselves the freedom to feel and do whatever comes naturally, not what our schedules and timelines tell us.
Again, this blog is certainly a blessing as it keeps track of all the pictures I never upload anywhere else, but I hope I never become someone that has to keep track of everyone's blog to know what others are thinking. We have to be able to talk face to face with those we love in our lives.

I have been forced to track a new substance though: Levi's food. Now that he's eating more purees, we have purchased a food scale in order to know exactly how much he ingests by mouth. While it's usually less than an ounce, we continue to thank God for his steady progress!

Also, Levi's neurological eval went great! Thank you for prayers! From an external evaluation, they found nothing to suggest he has any neuromuscular disorders. However, they do want us to potentially do one other non-invasive exam involving little muscle shocks and acupuncture in order to rule out every other minor possibility. He'll also get one last brain MRI when he turns two that will show us whether all his fatty tissue around the brain developed properly. I can tell you that I'm grateful doctors can keep track of every possible disorder evident through technology. While I wish we could depend on simple Mother's intuition, I thank God for all that is available to us to help Levi grow to his full potential. We are truly blessed More than that, I sat in the Children's Healthcare Muscular Dystrophy clinic in utter gratitude. There are so many people walking much harder roads than I've ever had to encounter, and most of the time they do it with pure joy. It's been a gift to be part of such a community.

While I neglected to keep track of a family Easter photo, we had a great weekend!