Above Health and Wellness

 

Hey team,

Per usual, I have been reading about health and wellness topics in addition to practicing what I preach. While I am nowhere close to the epitome of healthy, happy living, I and the people around me can see that I’m doing pretty well overall. This is in terms of the objective behaviors I engage in, from what I eat to how I spend my time, and my subjective experience of feeling, well, fantastic!

More recently, it has become apparent that many people do not prioritize or even care much about their health and well-being, which are, of course, inseparable. While acknowledging that I cannot read minds and therefore cannot understand the full extent of why people are the way they are, given the distributed causality of what formed them into the person they are today, I also know rather objectively the utter importance of taking care of yourself.

Yes, many of us are busy, stressed, uninformed, and often responsible for dependents, which can lead to neglecting our own health and happiness. But I firmly believe it is our responsibility to take care of ourselves, not only for our own sake but to better serve those around us. How is a teacher supposed to energetically engage and teach students if they are starving themselves of the nutrients their bodies and brains need or avoiding necessary sleep? While many do this, outside of education, of course, it comes at the cost of providing a fraction of the service we are capable of. If a doctor is sleep-deprived, hungover, or malnourished, how can you expect them to apply the very best of their knowledge and insight into treating you? You simply can’t! And in the case of a parent who neglects to nourish themselves or keep up with their health from the rationality of “I must take care of my dependents,” they will be the quickest to experience the effects and eventually only be able to provide a percentage of the service or care they once could. If the caretaker incorporated measures to improve and maintain their own well-being, it would really just be a part of the overall caretaking role. If “self-care” is continually delayed or ignored, impairment will take over. Muscle and bone loss to the point of falls, fractures, hospitalization, or limited mobility. Cognitive decline and heart disease. These all decrease, rather permanently, our potential to be our best selves capable of providing incredible care and value to others. And once these diseases develop, they aren't very treatable, but they are preventable.

Disease doesn’t come from nowhere but instead from predispositions and risk factors that culminate over time to manifest as chronic disease or impairment. These contributing factors can be broken down into modifiable and nonmodifiable. For example, we know genes, how you were raised, and the early education you got are out of your control. But I think we can agree that our actions are in our control. If someone has a risk of developing skin cancer, that doesn’t mean they were born with skin cancer. They can take the action of liberally wearing sunscreen under UV exposure to decrease the risk of developing it. They can also avoid sunscreen and spend ample time in UV and catastrophically increase the risk of getting skin cancer. I hope this is a clear description of how genes don’t determine your fate, but together with the actions you take and the environment you’re in, they do. This interplay between genes and environment manifesting into disease stretches far beyond the example of skin cancer. However, in other cases, it often involves more than just wearing sunscreen and also takes place over a longer duration of time.

Now I’d like to discuss some of the common rebuttals in response to my stance on prioritizing health and wellness. 

“It’s too late for me,” “I don’t have time,” “it's out of my control,” “I can’t.” These statements convey an unfortunate sense of hopelessness, often a key pillar of someone experiencing depression. It is never too late to make a change and improve your life. In class, we discussed how quitting smoking has benefits regardless of the age you decide to quit. Earlier is always better, but relative to those who continue to smoke, quality of life and health markers will all improve. And this is no different from other instances of health and wellness changes. Those with diabetes, heart disease, chronic fatigue, stress, and other mental or physical illnesses can all improve their quality of life and minimize their symptoms through lifestyle changes that will be vastly better than those who maintain their unhealthy habit-driven regimen. A major problem that I am well aware of is the difficulty in breaking old habits and changing your mindset. Those stuck in their ways believe that they can’t enjoy a different way of living or believe that they know best. I believe the resolution to this is understanding that these statements are rooted in ignorance. Firmly believing that you know best is nothing short of delusion. No one knows best, at least not through gut feelings alone. That’s why we only get good changes and resolve when we put our heads together and test our ideas. Believing you know best and researchers and doctors don’t is foolish. But it’s okay to be wrong, we’re all human, and we should still have compassion for our past selves who didn't know any better. But once you come to a place of knowing of alternatives and that what you continue to do isn’t serving you or the others around you, I do believe it’s your responsibility to take action, at least from a rational and selfless perspective. If you continue to live the status quo, which isn't serving you for the best, at least accept that it’s not for any rational or good reason, unless you want to lie to yourself.

So where exactly should we be at? Living a life and having a mindset in alignment with our well-being. Health and wellness alignment means accepting that we ought to prioritize our bodily and mental functions to a point of mindfully engaging in actions that our bodies need to function properly and optimally while avoiding or minimizing the actions that promote dysfunction and harm. It also involves disillusioning our attachment to the belief that "we know best" and "others don't get it." Once we let go of these limiting beliefs, we can embrace the knowledge and practices that genuinely enhance our well-being and the well-being of those around us.

Stress is inevitable, but resilience is not. Prioritizing health and wellness is key to building this resilience. When we focus on maintaining our physical and mental health, we equip ourselves with the tools to handle stress more effectively. By aligning our actions with what our bodies need and shedding the illusion that we always know best, we can foster a more resilient, healthier, and happier life. Embracing this mindset not only improves our own well-being but also enhances our ability to support and serve those around us.

Now go out there and SERVE (especially yourself!).