Today at the gym, I received my Smart Card. This amazing small card with a bar code when placed in a machine will record the number of repetitions that I have done, my range of motion and my energy expended. As well, it will tell me how many more machines I have to workout on to complete a full workout. A green light will tell me if I am working in my target range. If it is orange I am not working hard enough. As I circled around the room dutifully working the weight machines, I noticed that instead of paying attention to what I was doing, I was watching the silly machine flash numbers at me.
I was struck by how numbers rule our lives; the balance in our bank account, our phone numbers, fax numbers, pin numbers, Social Insurance number, credit numbers, weight etc. Everywhere there are numbers to be memorized and kept in our brain. Some days our lives are subsumed into the endless number vortex. A few years ago I realized my brain was not large enough to keep all my important numbers in my head. Last week when the financial planner asked me for my Social Insurance number ( same as a Social Security number in the States) I looked at him like he had sprouted two heads because I didn't have a clue. He looked at me like I was slow because I didn't know it. After a year, I have yet to memorize the phone number for the office. Thank goodness for Smart Phones and datebooks!
My resolution is not to get swept into the numbers trap and merrily exercise my way around the circuit as I dance to "California Girls." After all the important thing is that I am moving not how fast I am going. What a good lesson for life.
I was struck by how numbers rule our lives; the balance in our bank account, our phone numbers, fax numbers, pin numbers, Social Insurance number, credit numbers, weight etc. Everywhere there are numbers to be memorized and kept in our brain. Some days our lives are subsumed into the endless number vortex. A few years ago I realized my brain was not large enough to keep all my important numbers in my head. Last week when the financial planner asked me for my Social Insurance number ( same as a Social Security number in the States) I looked at him like he had sprouted two heads because I didn't have a clue. He looked at me like I was slow because I didn't know it. After a year, I have yet to memorize the phone number for the office. Thank goodness for Smart Phones and datebooks!
My resolution is not to get swept into the numbers trap and merrily exercise my way around the circuit as I dance to "California Girls." After all the important thing is that I am moving not how fast I am going. What a good lesson for life.
I don't know my social insurance number either!
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