Here is the thing - when I set this week's blog challenge here I had in my mind the response I wanted to give. I thought I'd made it easy on myself.
So wrong.
As I've said a few times, life threw me a curveball this week (twice really) which changed my answer made me question my body and my "health" and made me think a lot harder than I wanted to!
Before I answer - I do want to say the responses this week are awesome! Thought provoking.
One thing I know, working as a nurse, ... I know what health is not.
Health is not obesity related illness. It is not lying in a bed on a heart monitor, watching a family cry as they see the results of a stroke in a loved one, chronic leg ulcers, loss of vision from diabetes, being physically unable to walk, mobilise and move in bed.
But there is more than that. Health encompasses the physical - yes. It is not being ill - obviously. But it also encompasses the emotional, the spiritual, our relationships - our lives.
For me - right now - health is being ENOUGH
For me health is being
STRONG ENOUGH to lift, to push, to carry, to dig, to do what needs to be done in my work, my home, and fun without having to injure my body or ask for help.
It also means (and has meant) - that in an emergency I am STRONG ENOUGH to give the best version of me to those in need, and know my body will not let me down.
It is being
FIT ENOUGH To run, to jump, to cycle, to LIVE. Knowing that my body will not let me down and I can live life LOUD. It means I can work, train, and parent - and have the energy to get through the day ... and then rest and rest well.
It is being
POSITIVE ENOUGH It is having that joy for life - to be able to go through the day with a smile and a spring in my step. Yes life will have times of sadness, anger, frustration and grief ... but for JOY to be my overwhelming emotion.
It is being
PRESENT ENOUGH It is being part of the lives of those I love. Supporting them and letting them support me. And being involved with them. Not just on the fringe of their lives.
It is being
WELL ENOUGH Sometimes you will get sick - but it is about being well most of the time - able to rest when needed, and recover quickly and get on with life. It is an absence of chronic illness and the health to live life to the fullest
It is being
RESILIENT ENOUGH When life knocks you for six, (as it will) it is about being able to cry, yell, get the anger and grief out, and then in time bounce back. It is being knocked down 7 times and getting up 8, and having the emotional ability to do so. It is about bouncing back.
It is being
AT PEACE ENOUGH Taking time to breathe. To pray. To meditate. To rest. Just to be. Life cannot always be run at full bolt. It is about time to sleep, to find your spiritual self, to rejuvinate.
So there we go. My picture of health. Less of a definition. More of a description. But that's just how I write.
Now to get out there and make sure I am living it!
Great post Kath.
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