Sunday, 15 November 2009

• I Want to Be Healthy... But for the Right Reasons.

  
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  It's a given: our culture is becoming more health obsessed. As the U.S. population becomes more obese, new diets are popping up everywhere. There are more health blogs, sections for health in the news, and health discoveries daily. Is it all for the right reason, though?

  In the past few weeks, as some of you may have been following, I've been going through a very significant self-discovery period. After quitting smoking and going through a potentially fatal illness, I was finding difficulty in falling back into my normal life here at college. Futhermore, I'm still adjusting to my new life up here... And even though it was all extremely stressful, I went (and am still) going through a kind of euphoric epiphany about my well-being.

  Translation? I'm taking care of myself, and discovering who I am.

  The self-discovery, I feel, is healthy in general. It can't possibly be a discovery... based on what I'm experiencing, I'm not exactly finding anything. I'm just kind of creating it. This kind of thinking lead me to my motivation to become more healthy.

  When we go on diets, we do it to lose weight.
  When we exercise, we do it to lose weight, tone up, or just be healthier in general.
  When we stray away from anger, jealousy, and negative feelings in general, we do it to appear more likeable to others.

  Let me tell you that I can't exactly pinpoint when my brain turned off the "temptation to eat a nasty dining hall cheeseburger" switch. I couldn't tell you why I decided that I needed to go to the gym every day, and I can't possibly explain why thinking about smoking a cigarette or downing a an excessive amount of alcohol sounds repulsive to me right now.
  
  The only thing I can tell you is that I really, truly just want to be healthy.

  There's a connection, I think, between your body and your mind that is unexplainable - and always will be - and I think this relationship starts with the mind. When the mind chooses to take care of the body and take that first step, the body chooses to take care of the mind. When the mind disregards what the body needs, the body doesn't resent it... it doesn't want to punish it. It just acts accordingly. Sluggishly. Not to its full potential.

  So when you add up all of that spiritual mumbo-jumbo, what I'm really trying to say is that you really have to get psyched to be healthy for the right reasons. Right now, in my life, I have so many priorities to sort out. Health is definitely at the top. How can it not be? I am my health. When all else fails in life, my health will be all I have. It's something that nobody can take away from me, or change.

  This isn't just physical health- mental health is also substantially important to me as well. With the combination of the two, at times I feel invincible. It's moments like after my Yoga class when the two connect that I feel so in tune I could literally accomplish anything. And I truly believe that to the fullest extent.
  
  Trying to be healthy for the "wrong" reasons isn't harmful in any way. But when you are genuinely becoming healthy to become healthy and you have a solid reason to do this and change your life- the results are priceless, and long lasting (I would say forever lasting- but how would I know?).

  Why do you want to be healthy? What's your true motivation?

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