Well, friends, it finally happened.
After 453 consecutive days of getting at least 10,000 steps a day, I broke my streak.
On Monday, I woke up with some sort of bug that knocked me on my ass. I probably got a total of 17 steps in, accrued over the handful of trips I took from the bed to the bathroom to the couch and back to bed.
And that’s okay! Going for a walk and getting some fresh air would have been lovely, but I was just too weak to manage it. There was no way I was going to power through to get to Day 454.
I don’t think there’s anything special about getting 10,000 steps a day. For me, it’s an arbitrary—but attainable—goal that encourages me to do something I love and celebrate what my body can do. Getting a streak going meant that I was successfully prioritizing what I say matters to me. I was literally walking the walk.
The end of a streak isn’t a bad thing or a sad thing; it’s a thing to celebrate. I was over the bug within 24 hours, and you can bet I got right back out there the next day. Day 454 was a blip. It’s not like the 453 days never happened—in fact, they proved to be the norm. And it’s the norm, not the blips, that shows you who you are.