Photograph by Loredana Nemes. Used with permission.
Are we making our lives too complicated?
Are we measuring, tracking and analysing our lives too much?
Are we making health and wellbeing a project? With a deadline??
We count our steps instead of just walking to enjoy the walk, the fresh air and simply moving a little.
We measure protein/carbs/fat instead of just enjoying food. Meals have to be 5-star Michelin meals with ingredients we can’t pronounce, when a piece of sourdough bread with baked beans and a fried egg could be a perfectly balanced and nutritious meal. Go exotic and have some kimchi with it, if you fancy it.
We follow hundreds of people on social media but haven’t rung a friend in ages.
We don’t know how to be alone – not lonely, nobody wants to feel lonely, but just be alone, sit still for a moment. No phone, no gadgets, no likes, just you and your breath.
What happened to “I just feel good”?
I am not going to lie – I did all this. I weighed, I measured, I tracked. I read everything, I wrote it down, I tried it. I definitely made it a project.
One summer, my holiday read was “Ultra-Processed People” by Dr Chris van Tulleken. Don’t get me wrong, absolutely brilliant book, and if you haven’t read it yet, I’d definitely recommend it. Maybe don’t read it on the beach on your summer holiday though.
Eventually I realised I was making my life too complicated. It was all taking up too much of my time — my free time, when I was meant to be enjoying my hobbies, resting a little, or reading a book… a novel, a memoir, a sci-fi book.
So, what I’m saying is, yes, read and learn and find what works for you. Absolutely do this. And then keep those good habits, enjoy life and the people around you. Make those habits part of your daily life without complicating life.
I am very lucky (although it can also be frustrating) that my body lets me know – quite immediately actually – if and when I skip my good habits. So, I don’t need to track anything anymore, I’ve got the best tracker in the world – my body. I listen to my body and I know when I’m doing well, because I feel well. I had to learn a lot and find out what works for me. But once I’d figured that out, I learnt to just live life. Without complicating it.
It’s a little bit like going back to basics, before smartphones and other gadgets ruled our lives:
Sit and breathe (now called meditating) in the morning for 5 minutes whilst your tea is brewing.
Walk to the shop around the corner instead of taking the car.
Cook a meal from scratch instead of heating up a shop-bought ready meal.
Ring a friend once a week – or even meet up for a walk together.
Focus on these basics without chasing the next best thing. Enjoy the life you have now.
The only one you have.
These are normal behaviours that we, as a society, we seem to have forgotten – and now the modern health experts spend so much time encouraging us to do them again.
I’m not talking here about having less in your life. I’m not talking about moving to a remote farm and having your own chickens.
I’m talking about making time for what matters most. Sometimes we fill our days with so many little decisions, choices, tasks and things to think about, that we leave very little space for simply being. Even something as simple as buying a coffee in the morning can become a decision about which coffee, which milk, which size, which syrup… and suddenly a simple coffee isn’t quite so simple anymore. And this is before 9am.
So no, am not talking about having less. I’m not even talking about not having that coffee from the coffee shop. That’s just one thing.
Am talking about life in general – am talking about finding the space to breathe, the time to live and the freedom to enjoy it.
That’s what I’m talking about.