Make Yourself a Priority for Lifelong Wellbeing
Hi Everyone! This month I’m focused on personal wellness and how it affects not only our lives, but the lives of those we love and care for. My intention is to plant a seed that will take deep root to champion a conscious, proactive pursuit of daily wellness, a topic I coach on.
May is Older Americans Month, and the theme is “Champion Your Health.” If you haven’t already done so, it’s never too soon to begin prioritizing both your physical and mental health no matter what age you are!
How does a proactive pursuit of daily wellness get started? By your decision to make YOU a priority above all else; by making personal wellness practices a daily habit - no matter how small.
A common misconception is the idea that someone experiences wellness in life merely because they don’t suffer from illness or disease. This belief could not be further from the truth. Wellness isn’t something we can get as a quick fix. Rather, it’s a conscious self-directed continual process; a journey throughout one’s life - of making daily choices that create an elevated existence of thriving, harmony, and resiliency.
It moves beyond just not being sick or obtaining a goal; it’s the interconnection of what’s called the 8 dimensions of wellness: emotional, physical, spiritual, social, occupational, intellectual, environmental, and financial aspects of your life. Wellness is multi-faceted and interconnected - if one area is neglected, other areas will be negatively impacted, creating a domino effect on overall wellbeing.
So, in circling back to the importance of making personal wellness a daily priority, let me start by saying: You want your health before you need your health!
Yes, it’s human nature - we procrastinate on doing the things we know we should, like saving enough money for retirement, implementing IT security, replacing an old roof on our home - the list goes on and on. Eventually, there’s a consequence. The realization then becomes: I’m 65 this year, and I don’t have enough money to retire; or, I’ve been hacked, and someone just charged several thousand dollars on my credit cards; or the leak from our roof has now damaged our hardwood floors. These are all terrible consequences and inconveniences that could have been avoided.
The difference with health issues like cancer, diabetes, heart disease, liver disease, early on-set dementia for instance, these aren’t just inconveniences. It’s not as simple as having to work 5 years longer to save more money for retirement or having to refurbish hardwood floors because of damage from a leaky roof that should have been replaced, or having to go through the hassle of replacing credit cards.
With health, it’s a different ballgame, and there are times when there are no do-overs; it can be as simple and clear-cut as life or death, and life is only as good as the quality in which it exists. Yes, I am one who was blessed with a do-over, so to speak, for which I feel immense gratitude every morning when I awake. I survived aggressive cancer. But do-overs are not guaranteed. Far too often, our health becomes less of a priority when up against the demands of daily life. Don’t let this happen. Don’t take that chance.
Whether you use Reiki, mindfulness, meditation, visualization, manifesting, hypnotherapy, or another holistic practice, when it comes to your physical and mental health, the habit of daily wellness - no matter how small - makes a difference as we age and how we age. By taking as little as 10-15 minutes a day with our phone turned off - to close our eyes in a quiet place and take some slow deep breaths; or to take a walk feeling the fresh air and staying present by focusing on nature; or to take note of a bird gliding through the bright blue sky - we’re nurturing our daily wellness.
Write down each evening 3 things you’re grateful for that happened during the day, regardless of whether it had been a particularly bad day. You see, the ability to recognize that we were able to get through the day, albeit challenging, is something to be grateful for, as opposed to focusing on all that went wrong. In maintaining peace and calm, and positivity amongst all of the negatives, we’re building character and strengthening resiliency and grit. I’d be the first to say that at times, this is easier said than done. However, being grateful for the ability of getting through challenges is, in and of itself, an act of wellness. No matter how small, these daily acts matter for our lifelong wellbeing.
So, make a habit of prioritizing You by practicing wellness tools each day. It’s easy to tell ourselves there’s just not enough time to indulge in a wellness break, but I’m here to remind you of the blunt truth: when it comes to our physical or mental health, without wellness we have absolutely no ability to live a quality life, no ability to be there for our spouse or our kids, no ability to be there for anyone who is dependent on us, and no ability to earn money or run a business. When it comes to not having our health, nothing else in life will matter.
There’s a reason why we’re told on an airplane to put on our oxygen masks first before placing the mask on our children. Think about that for a minute. Making ourselves a priority is essential if others are dependent upon us to assist them, especially young children. Our personal wellness is not an indulgence - it’s an essential priority for us to live our best possible life and to be able to effectively support those we love.
I’m reminded of a true story that happened to a friend of mine many years ago. She expressed concern about her parents, as her mom had the beginning stages of Alzheimer’s, which had been advancing quickly. Her parents were relatively young - in their 50’s - and her dad had been fit and healthy. She tried very hard to convince her dad to put her mom in a place where she could receive the professional care she needed, as the disease had progressed to the point where she couldn’t feed herself, did not know who anyone was, and had to be watched 24/7. Every time the subject of professional care was brought up, my friend’s dad insisted he would take care of her - that he took his vows of marriage seriously, end of discussion. Within a month’s time, he died suddenly of a bleeding ulcer while my friend’s Mom went on to live 6 more years. Sadly, the man who vowed to care for his wife was unable to do so because he neglected his own health. While stress and worry are not the cause of an ulcer, emotional stress and worry can most definitely aggravate an undetected ulcer and cause further problems. Even if there were other reasons for his demise, had he taken the time to make himself a priority, it might have been detected and prevented.
Friends, it’s easy to get caught up in life. I’m here to remind you - you’ll have no life without your health. Make yourself and your wellness a top priority for your lifelong wellbeing. We get one chance and one chance only, and there are no guarantees or do-overs. No matter how busy we may be, let’s take that ten-minute, uninterrupted break to close our eyes and take in some deep breaths; let’s take that walk around the block to remain grounded, and let’s make a conscious effort to take note of nature; let’s write down three things we’re grateful for before going to sleep at night. These little mindfulness tools can make the difference in our daily wellness that ultimately affects our lifelong wellbeing!
These are my thoughts and opinions, just sayin’ … Until next time, stay healthy and stay well!
Following my diagnosis of Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, I learned I likely got this disease from having been exposed to toxicity at some point. This typically happens from breathing. For example, when you see those labels on merchandise that reads ‘Prop 65 WARNING: use of this product can expose you to chemicals known to cause cancer …’ - that means you definitely don’t want to be breathing anywhere near that item. Another example is Roundup, the spray that is used to kill weeds. With that, there is no warning. You could be at a park with your kids playing on the grass and not even know if Roundup was used there or not. You can’t see the fumes, and you can’t smell it, so anyone can be affected wherever they are at any given time. After doing a little research, I came across Forensics Detector’s hand-held monitor. I love it! It’s small and light, and easy to use. I just press the button, and in seconds it gives me a PM2.5 reading of the air quality. This has been invaluable to me and I use it everywhere I go!
