This is part II of, “Are you Healthy?”
In Part I we looked at Factors 1-4 of the complete picture of being healthy. As a reminder they are: 1.) Control over your diet. 2.) Ability to perform daily activities. 3.) Emotional well being. And 4.) Mind Activities.
The next 6 items will complete the factors that should be considered when determining if we are indeed healthy. Surprisingly, or not, our happiness can often be linked to our health. But, health isn’t just in our exercise and out diet. Let’s take a look.
5.) Meditation/Spirituality
This is a form of mental balance. We all know that balance is the key. Reflection, concentration, and sometime mind numbness are all manners which the body, soul, and mind can rejuvenate. Don’t overlook this important ingredient. Religion can play a part in happiness and your health. Spirituality is another aspect of balance.
6.) Routine Physical Exams
See a medical provider. This is key. If something is going wrong – like diabetes, cancer, asthma, and a list of other medical conditions. No matter how much you are doing some of the other things, you will end up being unhealthy. Visits to a health care professional can reduce some of the health issues that plague our society. They give recommendations, enlightenment, and professional judgment that will, in many cases, save your life.
7.) Exercising
Muscle movement, breathing, and the release of energy are essential of a healthy being. Sweat, movement, joint use, better bowel movements are all possibilities when it comes to exercise. As we set manageable goals and reach them, our confidence and performance improves. We become healthier.
8.) Vitamins
As we age and as we improve our health, certain vitamins can become helpful for us to reach or maximum or potential. Be careful with what you find. Research and become familiar. Don’t listen to every “professional” that give you advice.
9.) Well balanced meals
Having control over our food is great. But we also need to choose better. We can meal plan to maximize the nutritional value of what we eat. Are we going to make mistakes? Of course! Is it hard to right the ship, it might be. But remember, after you’ve had a terrible meal, you can make a change as soon as your next meal or snack.
10.) Motivation
Success comes with motivation. Failure occurs with the lack of motivation. Your health will be directly proportional to your motivation. If you wake every day and say, “oh no!” Someday you will wake and say, “Why didn’t I?” Learn what motivates you. In some cases this will be easy, and in most cases it won’t. Motivation may change over time. But you need to always be searching for it.
A healthy individual may live to they age a hundred. But so may an unhealthy person. The chances are though; it will be much harder to do so, if you aren’t healthy. But happiness must also come into play. Being healthy can afford you an emotional, healthy and often spiritual balance and because of this health, you can transcend a level of happiness.
So my suggestion is to take each of the 10 categories and rank yourself from 1 to 10 and see how healthy you really are. Things like motivation and control over your food may seem like a yes or no answer, but dive deeper into a week or a month and see how you turn out. We’ll all have a bad day or two. Let’s always remember to take a long look at the bigger picture of health.
