How do you measure it?

Do you ever have days that you're almost embarrassed to measure your productivity? Yea, you know what I'm talking about. I felt like today fell in that category, until I asked myself the question... What is productivity, and how do you measure it? Is it a checklist? Is it pages in a book? Emails answered? Doing laundry?

Usually, all of the above affect my productivity gauge. However, I'm beginning to see it a little differently.

I woke up when I woke up. No alarm clock, and no direct need for my feet to ever hit the water surrounding the island of my bed. When I did get up, I took a shower, watched a House marathon, answered a couple emails, etc. I was wasting a day, and it was mildly intentional.

While eating dinner at Noodles & Company, Cam and I developed the brilliant and always popular idea of roaming the aisles of Barnes & Noble with a coffee in hand. On the way there, I decided to stop in Pier 1 Imports, merely because I had a $50 gift-card burning a hole in my

pocket. After wasting a substantial amount of time, I decided on two oversized (if that's possible) coffee cups. I could prematurely feel the joy they'd bring me as Cam and I carried them around the store.

Barnes & Noble was both exhilarating and frustrating. Of course, being surrounded by books is one of the greatest highs, but the realization you can't buy them all sobers you right up. Nonetheless, I have spent many a night in B & N merely finding the perfect aisle to plop down and grab the nearest book. Of course, this is exactly what we did, coffee in hand. (I made a list of books I need to obtain... one of the first: John Maxwell Leadership Bible.) Sadly, B & N isn't open 24 hours, and we made our way back to the car. Instead of cranking it up and heading back home, we dived head first into a two hour intellectual discussion about religion.

So, some of you might read about my day and believe it was unproductive. However, my day was filled with things I really enjoy, and it put into perspective a few things I value:

I am truly blessed to have someone in my life who challenges and forces me to articulate my beliefs, religious or not. Cam is truly a beautiful person, and I gain more from our conversations than he'll ever know. I value learning and growing. I am in love with my God. I am constantly searching for ways to strengthen my relationship with Him, and my thirst will never be fully quenched. I value faith and relationships. I value communication, in verbal and written form. I also value enjoying the little things, like the warm embrace of a good cup of coffee.

While these are only a few things I value... What have you done to live out YOUR values today? Are your actions allowing you to express those values? Develop or discover them? I may not have answered a million emails or studied agriculture facts until my eyes bled, but there was indeed VALUE to my day.

Tomorrow, I might be studious or experience hand cramps from answering all of those neglected emails... but tonight, I will go to bed thankful for another beautiful, productive day.