It’s 2022: Take a Deep Breath!

[andrea_lunsford]

This article was originally published on January 6, 2022.

I have never been more glad to see the back end of a year than I am of ushering out 2021: good riddance and please don’t come again, I say.

But 2022 hasn’t started out too well, either. A couple of family crises, in fact, so I am taking a week off from the blog, accompanied by my new companion, an Apple 7 watch. The orthopedic surgeon who treated me after a fall a few months ago that left me with a fractured pelvis and wrist recommended it as an “alert system,” saying he urged all his patients who live alone to get one.

Mine arrived around mid-December and has been my constant companion since. I have never worn a watch, so it’s taken some getting used to, but I’ve managed to load all my medical information into it and to set up a few other things, though I have a long way to go to get it fully operational. Of course, now if I fall, it will check on me and then call 911, emergency contacts, and in general alert the universe that I may need help.

But it also talks to me. A few days ago, as I was waiting for my car to be serviced and decided to walk up a hill to pass the time, my watch suddenly said, “Hi Andrea, I see you are beginning a workout.” I was not, but pleased that it thought I was being industrious. And at 8:00 every evening, it says something like, “Hello, Andrea. It’s a good time for some mindfulness. Concentrate on your breathing. Breath in . . . and breathe out. Breathe in . . . and breathe out.” It carries on in this vein for about a minute and then says, “Well done!”

So that’s my New Year’s advice to everyone: it’s 2022—time to take a deep breath in . . . and out.

See you soon.

Image Credit: "ATTIZ Apple Watch 40mm Metal Snap Silver Limited Band Strap" by TheBetterDay, used under a CC BY-ND 2.0 license