What does it mean to be ‘healthy’? Think about that word for a minute… what images spring to mind? Toned bodies, bronzed skin, smiling faces and green apples are all good examples, and they’re not wrong. Type the word into Google images and that’s exactly what comes up. Health has a face, and a very lovely one. But maybe it’s time we looked under the surface. After all, true beauty isn’t only skin deep.
We all have these aspirations, these pictures in our head of how we look when we’re healthy… maybe if we can look like that we can finally be happy! We can finally feel good in our skin. And so we begin with the tiresome diets and trips to the gym. The expensive lotions and potions. There is a whole industry out there waiting for you to spend money trying to fix this or that ‘problem’. The cellulite. The fatigue. The knee pain. Your health. Such a problem.
But for some reason, no matter how much money you throw in the pockets of these businesses who claim to make you feel better, you seem to always end up feeling worse. The diet didn’t work. The gym made you tired. The potion made you sick. You end up back where you started, except slightly older and more disheartened. Maybe health is not for you? Maybe you are just not meant to be one of the bronzed, happy people Google raves about.
But the truth is that health is so much more than this exterior mould. Those potions and gym memberships are a bit like using band aids to patch a leaky bucket. At some point they will stop working. Because health is not just physical. It’s spiritual, it’s emotional and it’s yours. What we see in the mirror is merely the physical representation of what’s going on inside.
So how do we go about fixing these health ‘problems’? Well, maybe we can stop seeing them as ‘problems’ in the first place. In order to make a positive impact on life, we need to approach life from a place of positivity. So instead of viewing these physical expressions as bad things, we can start to see them as gifts. We can even be thankful for them. They are not irritants or obstacles we need to overcome. They are messages sent from deep inside us. They are the body asking to be listened to. Did you get the note from your knee, the one about the pain? Did you listen to it? True health is not about ‘fixing’ something. It’s about listening and responding with kindness. We create health from health, not by fixing a problem.
Secondly, it’s time to accept the responsibility. The physical, emotional and spiritual responsibility. Stop handing it over to other people. The doctors, the therapists, the personal trainers. Sure, they are all very important and they help us tremendously, but they aren’t the whole solution. You can visit a physiotherapist to fix your back, and they can give you exercises and advice, but fundamentally the back is still yours, not theirs! And the healing needs to come from you! Self-healing is such a powerful and effective tool, but it’s also one we tend to ignore. Silly really, considering it’s the cheapest therapy going. Completely free in fact. All it takes is your time. Time to listen. Why was your back hurting in the first place? What tensions are you holding there? These sorts of questions will open pathways of communication between your physical and emotional body, and only you can answer them. You are the solution. Mastering health starts with accepting responsibility for health. Our illnesses are like bells. And once we listen to those bells, take responsibility for them, they will stop ringing.
This may all sound like a lot. There’s some big changes to made, and that’s good. In order to heal, we need to change. But unlike the dreaded diet, it doesn’t have to be a battle. Starting to feel healthier is actually really simple.
For a minute, let’s shift our thinking from how healthy we ‘were’, or ‘will be’, to how healthy we feel ‘right now’. Because a change in your health can start today, this very second.
Check-in with yourself. Your feelings. The quality of your presence. How are you? Whatever feelings come up, good or bad, smile to them. Smile to the stomach pain for letting you know something’s wrong. Smile to your sore feet for taking you that extra mile today. Even smile to that uncomfortable tightness of your waistband for reminding you to just have 1 cookie next time.
Smile to the world, to this beautiful life you have. Smile to your body for letting you experience and move through that life. It may seem too simple, but it’s the best place to start. Because real health comes with kindness. It comes with love. And just like those happy people on Google, it can start with a smile.
Health, not just a pretty face
