Technology regularly gets the blame for creating a world of adult couch-potatoes and screen obsessed kids. With a world of distraction at our fingertips it is easy to get lost in endless, sedentary hours of watching, tapping and scrolling, but lately I’ve had a different kind of technology experience.

Encouraged by my sister Julie (thanks sister!!!), I recently bought a Fitbit and I love it! This little watch-like device tracks an amazing variety of activities and stats – steps and miles walked, heart rate, calories eaten and burned, and more. Somehow the little dials that mark my progress, and the accountability of working toward my own daily goals, moves me into action. In the last 22 days I have walked over 70 miles and other than slightly sore feet, I feel great!

I used to walk a lot and had a problem with boredom. Long periods of quiet, thoughtful introspection are not my specialty (I’m working on that!), but for now, while walking, I listen to all kinds of podcasts to keep me going. Business, health, stories read aloud – here are links to two of my favorites – The Eventual Millionaire and The Moth – True Stories Told Live. Since I have access to an endless selection of podcasts through my phone, I can really enjoy a long walk to the beach, around my neighborhood or on my treadmill while being entertained, inspired and informed. So I’m exercising my body and, thanks to technology, expanding my mind at the same time, which keeps me moving longer – win, win, win!

One more little tech tool to mention that is helping with a project my husband and I are working on together. We’re planting container gardens, including one to attract butterflies, and having a great time looking at other people’s yards and wandering through plant nurseries to figure out what to plant where – lovely! We’re not fully up to speed on plants and often we’ll need to identify or get more information about something we like. Break out the phone, snap a picture and there are several handy little, free apps that will magically identify the plant and tell us what we need to know. OK I don’t want to seem too easily amazed, but that is pretty cool!

So many options – using them to our best advantage is up to us and I’m grateful for the variety. I spent some time today sitting outside, next to our new little butterfly garden, in an early morning quiet that needed absolutely no technological enhancement. The very warm and heavy summer air, ruffled every so often by an ocean breeze was just right and more than enough.