How Healthy Are We?

We typically define health as “the absence of disease”. If we don’t have the flu, stomach distress, headaches, or other common ailments, we consider ourselves healthy. Likewise, if we have not been diagnosed with a chronic condition like high blood pressure, diabetes, cancer, lupus, among others, we believe we are in good health.

Yet, when physical symptoms hit, or a medical condition is diagnosed, it feels like our world has turned upside down. All of a sudden, we reflect back on the valued times we felt healthy, or well.

But how long did it take for us to become ill?To begin to understand this, we need to examine how our bodies really work.

How the Body Works:

The body is an incredibly complex system of organs, which contain millions upon millions of cells. We can picture organs, like the heart and lungs, in our mind’s eye, but it’s much harder to envision the vast array of complex physiological processes that occur in our body daily. These processes are responsible for our basic daily functioning like breathing, walking, thinking…the list goes on and on…..

It is now acknowledged by many doctors and scientists that diseases start many years before they actually manifest in the body. Diseases actually represent organ AND cell function gone awry.

The whole concept of Preventative Health teaches ways we can help keep our organs and our cells healthy for life. It doesn’t mean we will never get sick, as many of us are born with a predisposition to certain conditions. However, when we provide the body the ingredients that it needs, the odds are truly in our favor that we can get well and stay well.

Why Transformation is Necessary:

Right now, our health care system is based primarily on treating diseases after they appear. And while it’s never too late to adopt a healthy lifestyle, why not start now, rather than waiting until you or a loved one has been diagnosed with a chronic illness?Many of us access health care right now in conventional mainstream medicine. We want to do more for our health and don’t know where to turn. We may have a diagnosis and are currently prescribed medication. Which supplements can we take which will be safe and help us the most? What else can we do to restore and enhance our health and well being?Or if we are currently not being treated for a particular illness, how healthy are we right now? Do we feel in optimal condition or do we seem to be dragging through the day? How is the quality of our sleep? Do we feel a sense of balance in our lives? And what can we do day to day to improve our overall sense of health and well-being, before disease sets in?The purpose of this article is to raise awareness. To recognize there are things you can do daily to get healthy and stay healthy is the most critical step. Once you are aware, you embark on a journey for life that will only enrich the quality of your life and of those around you. This is the journey of personal transformation.

Good health involves a mindset. The mindset is that you are worth the effort. Probably the biggest reason people let their health deteriorate is that they don’t feel worthy of the time and effort that it takes. They fail to realize that if they don’t take better care of themselves, they won’t be any good to anyone else. In fact, as their health deteriorates, they will need to depend on others to care for them. And illness isn’t a pleasant way to live. Ask anyone who is home bound or needs to depend on a ride for doctors’ appointments. Or someone who is too weak to enjoy much of anything. Or in too much pain.

Health is not about subscribing to a magic formula or pill. It is a mindset that becomes a way of life.

Our world needs more of us that are healthy. As we take better care of ourselves, we are better to take care of each other and the world around us.

Take an inventory of your state of health. How well do you feel? Physically, mentally, emotionally, and yes, spiritually? Are you tired, anxious, restless, in pain? Are you content with where you are at in your life? Are you longing for more? Do you feel your body isn’t able to keep up with all you want for your life?Physically, are you in the shape you want to be in? Is a workout routine a distant memory? Are you struggling with any chronic illness that interferes with your daily life?How is your diet? Almost everyone of us could improve in this area! Is your food convenient but not nutritious? Are you eating fresh fruits and vegetables or alot of starchy, processed foods?Mentally, are you aware of your thoughts and thinking patterns? Is your cup always half-full or is your thought field always dominated by some negative or self-defeating thought? If it is, are you aware that our thoughts are profound influencers of our overall state of health? Shifting those thoughts, visualizing situations in a more positive fashion can lower anxiety, lower stress and have a profound impact on your sense of well-being.

Emotionally, do you feel stable or are your emotions on a roller coaster? Are you an emotional “reactor” that literally blow up in response to circumstances, or do you bury your feelings until they explode? Neither is good for your health. Becoming more conscious of your feelings, understanding that feelings do not have the power we give them, enables us to validate our feelings for what they are- just that. We learn to roll with our feelings and not make major life decisions based on a lot of them. We practice detachment, after we have learned healthy outlets for our feelings. Walking, journaling, spending time with friends, playing with a pet, are all healthy outlets for feelings. So are hobbies like gardening, crafts, art and music. Finding healthy expressions of our feelings and cultivating at least one, goes along way to “letting off steam” that feelings will evoke. And that steam, without an outlet, is a real breeding ground for some sort of illness.

Spiritually, where are you at? What is your spiritual belief system and how do you practice it? Do you have bad memories from the past of a religion or church and have you run the other way? Studies document the power of prayer in healing from physical ailments. Clearly more research is needed, but if this is an area you are struggling, seek out one or two people you can safely talk to and explore from there.

And, oh yes, change is uncomfortable. At least at first. Select one area at a time that you feel needs work and stick with it. You will find with repetition, and some outside support, what was once uncomfortable now becomes reflexive, that’s right, habit! Good health is a process of cultivating a lot of good, often new, habits!Don’t let yourself get discouraged. The fact is, we live in a very complex world. None of us live in a vacuum. We have demands competing for our time and attention constantly. That’s why, what seem to be small steps in fine-tuning our health are actual huge leaps. Give yourself credit for the progress you are making!Reflecting regularly on your state of health will help you take the next necessary steps to improve where you are at- most important, remember, you are worth it!