Life Stats

For the past year or so I’ve been collecting things that can be named no better than “Life Stats”.

They are categorized by year and into groups such as, Books Read, Places Travels, Stories, Restaurants/Meals, and Learning.

Here’s an example:

2017 Places Visited/Traveled

• Haiti
• Truckee, CA for New Story Team Retreat
• Bothe-Napa State Park for CG camping
• Mount Tam
• Heavenly Mountain, Tahoe, CA
• Smithgall Woods, GA
• El Salvador for New Story Team Retreat
• Eatonton, Ga
• Statesboro, GA for talk at Georgia Southern
• Lost Coast, CA for backpacking
• Nicaragua for Impact House 2017
• Thomasville, GA for Sarah Hardy’s wedding

The Benefits

It’s simple but there are a multitude of benefits. The main ones for me being:

• Gratitude. As I look back to these lists I remember the emotions and details of the place or event. Without the list I may not remember some of the small things or small places I’ve visited, but they are all important and unique. I am thankful for each one.
• Reflection. Whenever I add to a list I get to look back at what’s happened this year. It’s a wonderful way to remember the many moments of life. I will also look to these lists at the end of the year when writing my year in review.
• Self improvement. Recently I looked at my list for Books Read and realized I had barely any books under my belt for 2017. Unacceptable. Life happens quickly and without this reminder I may have just “kept on keeping on”.

I recommend trying to record some life stats of your own. Open up your notes app, create a folder named Life Stats, and come back to it periodically to record what’s happened. You’ll thank yourself at the end of the year.