health = freedom
We generally don’t take action without good reason, but if the current climate isn’t enough to call yourself into action what is? It is hard to think that it’s almost been “years” of this nonsense without any tangible methods being implemented to positively change the status quo.
Regardless of your beliefs about why the world is in a state of panic, the unfolding events have presented us with an opportunity to see things differently. Hopefully, it has allowed us to recognize that the way we’ve been persuaded to think, the way we’ve been told to see each other, and the way we’ve been informed to take care of our bodies, has come from a place of fear. We’re scared into lesser versions of ourselves, and therefore our communities, because it has been the most consistent and loudest message.
None of us enjoy this constant state of inequity, poor health, strife, yet we continue to sit back and wait for things to change for the better without the realization that ultimately it all starts with you and I. Everything starts with the collective Us. We need to come together to redefine what it means to live a life of our choosing built upon a foundation of health that provides us the freedom to pass through this life with relative ease.
We have to envision a society where true health is a fundamental part of society. Despite what we are seeing right now. Despite what we are hearing right now. It is possible.
Taking personal responsibility for our health needs to be the rule, not the exception. This isn’t a call for mask wearing and vaccinations, it is far more fundamental than that. This is a call to take personal responsibility for the health of your body and the inputs you provide it. What you put in, is what you get out. And as a society we are failing miserably. In the US, about 90% of our citizens are metabolically unhealthy, which means there’s around 10% of our population that has enough knowledge, or luck, to provide their body with the correct inputs to achieve a level of health that allows them to approach the current state of the world with confidence. Imagine if it were all different. Imagine if the majority weren’t beholden to the consistent need of refilling medications, scheduling treatments for their ailing bodies, or settling into a lives of dis-comfort as if it were somehow preordained. Do you think the world would be more free?
It doesn’t make sense. And this acquiescence to the status quo of suboptimal health is the driving force behind the crisis we’re all in. It is firstly an epidemic of poor health that has provided the necessary fuel to ignite a pandemic of the immunocompromised.
Collectively, we need to take responsibility to elevate our potential, not succumb to the idea that the majority of this country — and the industrialized world, for that matter — had it correct when it came to the best way to live our life. Achieving real health is no longer a fundamental part. Somewhere along the line it was drowned out by the voices selling us on the idea that it was best to do whatever it takes to get rich, gain more followers, and enjoy a hedonistic lifestyle without the thought of consequences. But none of us can realistically trade our health for wealth because if we do, we end up having to trade back our wealth for a chance to recoup whatever health we have left.
In a recent presentation, I asked those in attendance — mostly wealthy executive types — to define health. Most of them simply came up with “the absence of disease.” That’s sad. People think that health is simply not being sick. While that does play a part, it is unfortunate to think that this is the best that they could come up with because the absence of disease doesn’t mean you are able to live your best life. Not that I am a fan, but the World Health Organization (WHO) presents a more holistic view as it defines health as the state of “complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease.” This is definitely a step in the right direction but still doesn’t fully encapsulate everything we should strive for.
In my opinion, health is best defined as an optimal state of bodily movement and function, as well as emotional and physiological well-being, which inspires confidence to pursue a life of our choosing, free from limitations of dis-ease and dis-comfort, that ultimately provides us with the freedom to live the life we want. When we are faced with a choice of what to do, we need to keep this definition in mind. We need to ask, are my choices in line with the fundamental pursuit of achieving optimal health? If not, then we’re ultimately resigning our health over to companies, and governments, that are more than happy to take advantage of our lack of foundational health, who stand to profit off the false promise that by taking this pill or completing that procedure we will be able to live a life free from the responsibility of our poor choices. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work like that. Our actions have consequences.
It is very difficult to achieve health within the same paradigm that made you unwell to begin with. It’s time to think different. It’s time to be different. It’s time to throw off the anxiety we have about the changes we need to make and simply do it. Get healthy. Be free.
268. “made me feel”
We frequently use the words “made me feel.” We’ll say something like; this person made me feel bad because of what they said.
We use these words for their ease. They require no introspection of their use. We believe we’re just a simple bystander to the events that happen to us. Saying “made me feel” absolves us from the responsibility of having to understand where spontaneous feelings are coming from. But the thing is, no one outside of ourselves has the power to make us feel a certain way. The feelings of anger, frustration, anxiety, sadness, and even love are all coming from within you. Whatever triggers their response is what we need to call attention to, sit with, and explore.
In other words, the input doesn’t determine the output. Our response to what someone says or does to us, is our response. No one can insert a feeling within us. The sooner we realize this, the sooner we can stop making the mistake that other people can exert some level of control over how we feel or operate in our daily lives, and take the responsibility to create the interactions we want.
230. behind every criticism
Behind every criticism is a wish waiting to be realized.
We critically ask…
“Why didn’t you ask me about my day?”
“Why didn’t you thank me?”
“Why didn’t you say something nice?”
“Why didn’t you say good morning?”
Instead of saying what we really mean…
“I wish you would show interest in my day, gratitude for my actions, appreciation for my deeds, or acknowledgement of my presence.”
If we say we wished another person did something, we have to put ourselves out there, on the line. It means we want something. It opens us up to be refused, rejected, unheard, or unseen. And if those needs aren’t met, it can be devastating.
To save ourselves from the potential of a painful interaction, we place the responsibility of what we’re truly after onto another by asking a critical question. Instead of saying what we want, we’ll say what they didn’t do. Questioning another by asking, “Why didn’t you do this?” or “What’s wrong with you?” feels better in some bizarre way than to tell the person what you actually want. That’s the wish, veiled in criticism.
We’re all so very complicated. Trying to figure out ways to get what we want, as if there is ever going to be a better way than simply asking. Don’t make things more difficult than they need to be. Don’t place the responsibility of figuring out your needs onto another. Don’t criticize. Be direct. Ask for what you want. You’ll get it a lot sooner, and with less tumult.
219. actions are the answer
At one point or another we’ve all asked someone, “what’s the meaning of life?” Our ask is genuine, but also a bit presumptuous as it’s not anyone else’s responsibility to tell us. And because we are all on our own path, no answer other than our own can truly serve us. Instead, imagine the world turning it around and directing that question toward us, and our answer can only materialize through our actions. In every situation, life is asking us a question, and our actions are the answer.
218. expectations
It’s our own expectations that hurt us, not the reality we’re faced with. Whatever we think should happen for us isn’t real, but exists as a projection of what we want our world to look like. When things don’t go our way, it’s easy to feel like a victim, but the thing is that if we allow ourselves to fall to that level of thinking, we lose all our power to effectively change the situation moving forward.
We are not separate from the problems we encounter, we are part of them. Our experience is based on our perception. Any expectations we place on outcomes is of our doing. The sooner we can accept the responsibility that our expectations are under our control, the sooner we can positively adjust to the consequences.
Our power lies within our approach. We can never know the outcome of a certain situation, so being tied to any particular outcome can never prepare us to rise to the occasion.
88. responsibility
We all fuck up sometimes. Whether through misjudgment, absent-mindedness, or sheer stupidity, these only serve as excuses, if you rely on them to be part of the story you tell. In an effort to resolve a conflict, after a mistake or failure of your doing ask yourself, “Am I distorting this situation in a way that makes myself feel like a misunderstood hero? Am I spinning the story to make myself feel better? Am I trying to play the victim to protect my ego? What were my actions that contributed to the issues at hand?”
Instead of believing that people don’t understand you, and are to blame for your failure, take responsibility for your actions. You made a mistake, fine. Say, “I fucked up.” That’s it. Simple, factual, and to the point. Own it and move on to rectifying the situation if possible. Don’t sit and try to explain it away with excuses for an hour. The truth lies in that one sentence, anything more will just produce excuses, not solutions. As soon as you start giving reasons and rationalizations, you’re trying to cover your misdeeds and protect your ego, and you’re not ready for responsibility.