What is Health?

 Hello again to all the great people of the Natural Health family. Today I wanted to discuss briefly two ways that one could look at health. One way to see it could be that the world is filled with different things that can harm you and that you are a victim to this unforgiving world. Another way to see it is that you are a powerful beyond measure capable of defending yourself from any outside influence. Let’s dive into why these two views are not right or wrong but need context to be understood. 

We know that there are different things in our environment such as bacteria and viruses that can be harmful to us IF we are not able to adapt to the “bug.” For instance a person (not allergic to bees)  gets stung by one bee can have some mild swelling and be able to recover from it fairly well. However, if that same person were to get swarmed and stung by many bees then it could have life threatening effects. This is because the person was overloaded and not able to adapt to the environmental stimulus. Similar to someone going to the gym who hasn’t worked up to a certain weight but decides to lift very heavy and gets injured in the process. That person didn’t build themselves appropriately to handle the stress load. Stress is not bad but vital for life. However, with any stress in life, like bees, weights and/or viruses, when we are overloaded we compromise our health and we are unable to adapt. We have been told for many years that we are victims to our health and that our genes control our destiny. This idea alone has left us thinking and feeling that we are less than what we really are. 

Have you heard the saying “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” Referring back to exercise, when lifting weights we are literally tearing down our own tissue. If this is done in excess and we do not let ourselves recover, we would eventually deplete our energy enough to cause ill effects to our bodies. However, when done appropriately, we make ourselves stronger and more resilient. This happens similar to many of our body systems including our immune system. Back then kids used to play in the dirt, drink from the hose, play with pets who were a bit dirty, and other things of that nature. Even studies show that these activities help build the immune system to help us defend ourselves from things such as viruses. We had the idea that we were strong enough to handle what the environment threw at us. It seems now that we have been misled into thinking we are weak and vulnerable instead of thinking that we are powerful even beyond our current comprehension.  

Life requires a balance. We shouldn’t be ignorant and overload ourselves with stress of any kind. However, we should be mindful of what we do to our own bodies through correct Eating, Drinking, and Thinking so that we are able to handle the stress of life. Our bodies are more powerful than we realize and it’s time to respect them and take care of them. The quote “The man who thinks he can and the man who thinks he can’t are both right” helps us acknowledge that the mind is powerful and what we are led to think or believe either on purpose or though unconscious ways can drastically impact our health. Through all that is happening in the world it is easy to get swayed into thinking one way over the other. Therefore, we should look at everything with good reasoning and choose to accept it based on a better understanding. YOU are powerful and capable of greatness  whether you think so or not. Fear is powerful, but always fails in the presence of a more powerful emotion, LOVE. Grateful to all who read this.

Have a great day!