Building Health
You’re building health or you’re not.
Every choice you make in your life either builds health, or it doesn’t. Think about it: Going to bed on time. The people you hang out with. The things you read and watch. Your response to emotional stress in your life. Foods you put in your mouth. Making time for activities you enjoy.
You could look at health like an investment account. You’ve probably heard the comparison before but it’s worth a quick review. Neither your health account nor your investment account guarantee anything, but they will give you the best chance to recover when stresses arise. The challenge is, they’re not a ‘front burner’ issues. It is the wise who spend time, energy and focus investing not for today or tomorrow, but for months and years in the future.
When The Going Gets Tough
A great measure of your current focus and vision is your behaviour when things veer off course of what you expected would happen. How do you behave when the going gets tough? The last several months have been the test for all of us. We’ve been bombarded with information, never-ending statistics, advice that changes daily and conflicting news reports. Physical, emotional and mental health levels have been challenged like never before. When you are squeezed, what comes out? What I’ve been reminded of over these last few months is:
You can control what you can control.
That sounds so obvious, but for a moment, take inventory of your thoughts over the last few months. Has getting the latest update on social media, online or on TV caused you to make huge changes to your daily activities? In mid to late March, I found myself wanting as much information as possible, as fast as possible. By early April, I realized the information was just that, information. Wisdom is having information and knowing what to do with it.
Continue to build your health by changing one of these habits this week:
1. Floss your teeth EVERY day this week (along with brushing of course)
2. Turn off your screen and go to bed 15 minutes earlier
3. Sit quietly and write down every “to do” idea, then prioritize them
4. Choose a show to watch where you’ll learn something
5. Make a list before you go grocery shopping, stick to it and nothing else
6. Commit to moving your body just a little more than yesterday
7. Call/video chat with a friend, no agenda, no crisis, just to catch up
