Much like the phrase, "happiness is not a destination," health is a journey and not a place to go. Every day we are exposed to an influx of information dictating the newest ways to improve general health. "Superfoods" that have been around for centuries have exploded into a marketing success story within the last decade. Facebook ads proclaim that "this one weird trick" will magically change your health and shrink your waistline to boot. One day we hear of the amazing benefits of fruit and the next day someone is sneering that fruit is all sugar and it "makes you fat." Everyone seems to be the authority these days from your know-it-all coworker to the famous doctor on the TV screen. There is a very fine line between health and restriction in the name of health and if you find yourself saying "I can't have that" instead of "I could have it but maybe another time" you are most definitely straddling that line.
To me, health is more than vitamins and minerals. Health is eating nutritiously when you can but looking forward all week to your grandma's lasagna recipe and your mom's famous chocolate cake. Health is not feeling crashing guilt when you eat a cookie...or half of the dough. Health is remembering to take your multivitamin because you got the gummy kind and they're more fun to eat. Health is not hours upon hours of forced strenuous exercise every day. Health is kale smoothies with your girlfriends in the morning and glasses of wine with popcorn late at night. Health is not blowing off your plans for fear of disrupting up your routine. Health is getting the "lighter fare" special at the restaurant one day and the burger and fries the next time you go. Health is not going on a five-minute rant to justify (to yourself or to anyone) why you ate a certain "bad" food. Health is loving yourself fiercely and inexplicably on your highest or lowest days. Health is doing whatever the hell makes you happiest whether that be eating McDonald's breakfast, going on a three-hour hike, or vegging out on your couch all day.
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We're all chasing the lofty and intangible concept of balance in our lives but I think it truly is possible if you stop searching for it and start living it. Your mind needs just as much TLC as your body and it's important to take the steps to find what calms you down and keeps you centered. Health is not stressing out about whether or not you're being healthy, it's about living your life, finding your balance, and enjoying the journey.
