20/10/2024
Check-in: What Does Your “Healthy” Look Like?
Let’s be honest, how often do we look at well-built people with good muscle tone and clear skin and just have this automatic summation that that person is the epitome of good health? I would like to challenge you to consider that we are not necessarily correct in that summation.
So, what are the key areas used to help measure the overall health of a person?
Something I have come to learn on my journey thus far is: to be of good health is not just physical, mental and emotional, but social and spiritual too. All of these areas are a measure of health.
For example, I could be fit, flexible and laugh a lot, but have very poor relationships which lack genuine connection and have stomach ulcers from stress and a diet high in caffeinated drinks.
Or, I could be classified as overweight, but eat nutritious meals, be able to run further than my skinny friends, follow my spiritual beliefs with total humble devotion and do all the work needed to maintain healthy relationships with people who also love me back.
Just out of curiosity, who might you consider more healthy?
Consider the first example, our entirely fictitious, fit, flexible, ripped and seemingly confident person, let’s name her Samantha. Samantha spends a lot of her time fine-tuning her image by attending regular gym sessions and 2 hot yoga classes each week. Her physical condition seems flawless. But Samantha finds her boyfriend unimpressive and keeps trying to change his ways. She has the odd family member who refuses contact with her due to past misunderstandings and conflicts, and she has no stable friend connections.
She sometimes finds herself lying awake at night, unable to sleep, and when she reaches for her phone, she can’t think of anyone safe enough to speak to about how her and her boyfriend just had a huge fight.
After a night with a lack of sleep, her energy is low, and she seeks out caffeinated drinks to provide the boost that she needs to get through her day. This has caused her to have dips in energy and physical signs of stress, including recurring stomach ulcers.
She most certainly does not believe in a higher power, or some kind of universal purpose, because science, you know? So what motivates her actions are measured physical outcomes and individual successes. That seems to be what all her friends and family prioritise. She sometimes finds herself feeling like a failure when she witnesses others achieving things she wishes she were doing.
Kirsten however, our second fictitious person, can openly start a conversation with anyone, and somehow manages to help people find peace as she shares in love and a belief in the greater good. She is motivated by her dreams of a better world, and her actions align with what she believes is for the greater good. This makes it a joyful experience when she witnesses another person achieve their goals.
Kirsten is genuinely liked by people who get to know her. She spends Sundays having lunch with her family, and plays hockey on Tuesday and Thursday nights with her club team.
There are no extremes with Kirsten, she somehow manages to keep everything relaxed and uplifting. If you could take a peek into her private life you might find her silently reading a book, or lightly chatting with someone.
So I will ask again, who might you consider more healthy?
Let us check in with ourselves;
Consider the impact your own spiritual beliefs, mental health, and social environment has on your actions, and how that impacts on your physical and emotional condition.
Consider how your version of good health will differ from another, as others face and experience an entirely different existence to your own.
Some have diseases, or are disabled in some way, and yet are able to find a form of good health that allows them to function just as efficiently as any other person who is in good health.
What will you do today to more accurately measure where you are at?
What does your healthy look like?
Pro Tip: write down a “Best Case Scenario” list where you write down all the most ideal possible outcomes for you. This will help you identify what matters most to you, and what will make you feel most fulfilled.
Go on and enjoy your journey.
As a spiritual leader in the pagan community, it has been stated to me from several people who I look up to, confide in, get inspiration from, that what I am doing is a important role not just as a spiritual leader, but also being a voice for pagans all across the nation and across the pond. I too w
