On Being Healthy

Isn’t that something we all strive for, to be healthy? We eat right, take our vitamins, work out – but yet, something doesn’t always click. On paper, we can sound like incredibly healthy individuals, but in actuality, we still might not feel our best. Something’s still missing.

Health, in its simplest terms, can be defined as “the state of being free from illness or injury”. It’s a term that we’re all familiar with, but also one that comes with a fair amount of ambiguity. What does it actually mean to be healthy? And what does being healthy mean to you?

Think of all the different ways we use the term healthy: we wish to eat healthy, strive to have a healthy body, work to have healthy relationships, try to keep our bodies and immune system healthy.  The term clearly encompasses a whole lot more than just what we put into our bodies and how free of disease we may be – health should, and does, encompass our whole lives.

What about having a healthy career? Or a healthy form of spirituality or meditation? What if what we put into our bodies – what we think of as our main source of nutrition – is actually secondary to all those other things going on in our life?

Think about when you were a child, engrossed in playtime out doors. Your parents called you in for dinner, but you weren’t hungry – you were high on life, and that was fueling you through the day. Or what about a time when you were passionately in love – when all you wanted was to be with the other person all day and all night, and time seemed to disappear.

Sometimes it’s not the food, but the energy in our lives that feeds us.

A good way to look at this is by saying that these things – our relationships, career, physical activity, and spirituality – serve as our primary foods in life. If you can be happy and healthy in these areas, what you actually put into your body becomes second nature, a whole lot easier, and a whole lot healthier.  In turn, our whole body functions better.

It kind of makes sense, don’t you think? To be healthy, we need to be happy.  Not just with certain parts of our lives, but with as much of it as possible. Sure, it takes a bit of work, but it also has a domino effect – small successes in one path can lead to even bigger successes in another.

The best part about all of this is that your health and your happiness are unique to you. What works for you and makes you tick may not work for the person next to you. It’s so important to explore these things in life, to experience different careers, relationships, exercise, and spirituality. Find your groove and be healthy!