I continue to think that people make health harder than it needs to be. So many of us make it so hard that we give up on it. We don’t bother. We accept where we are. We just take to grumbling about getting older. We give up! Not at one moment mind you, but slowly over years as we march toward perceived inevitability. Most of those out there don’t even spend any time thinking about health at all. We are all so caught up in getting through the day or the week, that we can barely think about life in our 50’s, 60’s, and beyond. Until we are there and we have lost our health and we are scrambling to get it back, often fruitlessly. That is tragic.
So here you are reading this article and perhaps you see yourself or someone you love in the paragraph above. I want to do this different, you think. Or, I don’t want to end up like my (fill in blank) ended up, wasting away. You see, I hold that life is best lived as of a candle, burning bright its entire life until at the end, it flickers and goes out. Life should not be like the candle that perhaps burns bright in the beginning, but then slowly fades as it ages, becoming dimmer, shadowy, weak, and wan, even useless in lighting the way around it. Being that elusive life-long bright candle requires commitment, planning, work. It requires time spent and energy mustered to do what must be done while one is younger, so that as they get older they remain healthy, mobile, erect, flexible, strong, vital. But I contend it is worth the effort, but again, it is not that hard. It starts with 150 minutes per week.
Here is where I tell you that not only do people make health harder than it needs to be, but they make exercise just as hard. Studies have demonstrated that all we really need for a healthy heart and cardiovascular system is to walk briskly for 150 minutes per week. You can to 3 sessions of 50 minutes (my preference), or 7 sessions of 22 minutes, or whatever. That’s it. If you want to do more or different, or whatever, have at it. I’m just telling you how simple health is. But while 150 minutes/week is not health. It is a fantastic and necessary start.
The rest is for other articles. But let me remind you of my rule, that if followed, will lead you to that bright candle. “One More Step Toward Health.” Once you have the 150 min/week down and you are ready to take another step toward greater health, then pick a change you can make in your life that moves you that one step closer. For example it could be drinking more water, adding a new supplement, losing 10#, prayer/meditation, committing to better sleep, making more me-time, working on a relationship, getting closer to God. I suggest you pick something easy, something you can assure success in, build confidence, make it part of your life, and then take another step. Always look to the next step. And in 10 years you will be a different person that you were going to be.
This is exactly the process I took starting in 2000. Yes, I have had set-backs along the way. That’s normal. But today I am much healthier than I was when I was 39. And if I had continued on the path that I was on in 2000, I would have been the dimming candle, if I had even been here at all. I urge you to take your first step, and if you have, encourage someone else.
So here you are reading this article and perhaps you see yourself or someone you love in the paragraph above. I want to do this different, you think. Or, I don’t want to end up like my (fill in blank) ended up, wasting away. You see, I hold that life is best lived as of a candle, burning bright its entire life until at the end, it flickers and goes out. Life should not be like the candle that perhaps burns bright in the beginning, but then slowly fades as it ages, becoming dimmer, shadowy, weak, and wan, even useless in lighting the way around it. Being that elusive life-long bright candle requires commitment, planning, work. It requires time spent and energy mustered to do what must be done while one is younger, so that as they get older they remain healthy, mobile, erect, flexible, strong, vital. But I contend it is worth the effort, but again, it is not that hard. It starts with 150 minutes per week.
Here is where I tell you that not only do people make health harder than it needs to be, but they make exercise just as hard. Studies have demonstrated that all we really need for a healthy heart and cardiovascular system is to walk briskly for 150 minutes per week. You can to 3 sessions of 50 minutes (my preference), or 7 sessions of 22 minutes, or whatever. That’s it. If you want to do more or different, or whatever, have at it. I’m just telling you how simple health is. But while 150 minutes/week is not health. It is a fantastic and necessary start.
The rest is for other articles. But let me remind you of my rule, that if followed, will lead you to that bright candle. “One More Step Toward Health.” Once you have the 150 min/week down and you are ready to take another step toward greater health, then pick a change you can make in your life that moves you that one step closer. For example it could be drinking more water, adding a new supplement, losing 10#, prayer/meditation, committing to better sleep, making more me-time, working on a relationship, getting closer to God. I suggest you pick something easy, something you can assure success in, build confidence, make it part of your life, and then take another step. Always look to the next step. And in 10 years you will be a different person that you were going to be.
This is exactly the process I took starting in 2000. Yes, I have had set-backs along the way. That’s normal. But today I am much healthier than I was when I was 39. And if I had continued on the path that I was on in 2000, I would have been the dimming candle, if I had even been here at all. I urge you to take your first step, and if you have, encourage someone else.