Each and every one of us is on a journey in life which leads to one of these – fulfilment, achievements, success, recognition, purpose, establishment, freedom, the list is endless. Truth is we can get lopsided in our pursuits, whilst trying to reach our goals that we sometimes miss out on the essence of a healthy lifestyle. Nutrition and Exercise sure come to mind first, but there are other key factors to a healthy lifestyle.
Good Nutrition: The fuel that we put into our bodies can become a huge factor in determining our health.
Well, the truth is we won’t be able to be our best if we continually neglect to put a decent amount of quality food into our mouths. And, not only will our performance be substandard, poor eating could result in our bodies needing major repairs (which usually isn’t a lot of fun).
Exercise: Our bodies were designed to move and when we don’t move enough are bodies stop functioning right and we gain excess weight, which can eventually result in our becoming ill. Exercising excessively causes it own problems. Balance is the key here – we don’t want to over-do or under-do it.
Relationships: Sharing our journey with the people we care about gives our lives real purpose and meaning.
When we nurture our relationships they become among life’s most precious, most rewarding and fulfilling gifts. When a married couple puts in the effort to respectfully and courageously communicate, their lives are enriched with each other’s perspective, opening up their ability to truly appreciate the many hues that make life so vibrant and exciting.
On the other side of the coin if we handle our relationships poorly we experience excruciating emotional pain. All of us have felt the intense anguish and pain when we have been hurt because we felt under-valued, or unjustly criticized, or caused someone we loved to have such feelings. So learning how to enrich our relationships is crucial to our happiness in life – another one of the important keys of a healthy lifestyle.
Developing Our Talents: We’ve all been born with certain gifts and talents – We grow in proportion to the way we develop these talents. Neglecting them in a way diminishes who we are while developing them helps us achieve our potential and gives us that deep sense of fulfilment. Self-development is definitely another of the keys to a healthy lifestyle.
Work and Service: While giving us a livelihood, work that is meaningful to us can provide us with an avenue for sharing our gifts with others. Work can give us a way to serve others, and service greatly enhances our health as we gain a sense of contribution to the wider community.
Optimism: Having a positive out-look can have a huge effect on your health. Optimists have a knack of rolling with the punches when life gets rough.
Without optimism life would weigh us down unbearably and cause emotional anguish which may well translate into disease in the body. An optimistic state of mind where you have a deep sense of gratitude is definitely another one of the must have keys to healthy living.
Play and Laughter: Play and laughter release endorphins in the body that help us overcome and prevent pain. They release nitric oxide into the system which plays a critical role in developing and maintaining wellness. We all need time out to rejuvenate our emotional well-being through undertaking recreational activities that give us a sense of joy, where we feel carefree and in-tune with our enduring youthfulness (no matter how old we may be. Fun and laughter are truly a wonderful balm for your spirit.
Being True to Who We Are: We all need to be honest with ourselves about what our strengths are and what weaknesses we may have. We can then live our lives in a more effective way.
By knowing our strengths and weaknesses we are better able to contribute in a manner that is both satisfying and effective. Generally what we enjoy doing is what we are good at.
Prayer and Meditation: Prayer and meditation are important keys to a healthy life because they connect us to the essence of who we are – God. In meditation we listen for the answers.
Prayer and meditation allow us to pause and reflect on our actions, thoughts and feelings and to adjust our course if we need to. Praying and meditating daily allows us to nourish our souls with spiritual food the same way we nourish our bodies daily with material food.
Research into prayer and meditation shows that praying for others health positively affects the health of the person prayed for, as well as our own. Meditation has been shown to increase healthy longevity and is definitely another of the important keys to a healthy lifestyle.
We can conclude by saying that Wealth – an abundance of everything (God, joy, peace, time, resources, health, etc.) is a buy product of a Health(y) Life(style). When you choose health, you have chosen wealth. Make that choice today!
Be sound in Spirit, Mind & Body!
Contributed by Iwo Akinyoyenu, US Certified Wellness Consultant. @erumucreations
