What is Health?

In my search for health and well-being, I have gotten into the eating disorder clinic at St. Joe's. As part of the introductory testing, I was asked a question. Without using a number, what does it mean to you to be healthy. My answer - I don't know how to define health without numbers.

Isn't that what our society is about. Health is defined in terms of weight or size. If you are a 9, you are healthy. If you are a 14 or 16 or (gasp) a 22... Well you are not.

I wonder, can one be healthy without being a size 9?

Can one be unheathly and be a size 9 (or whatever that number is for you).

Looking back to highschool, I think, perhaps, I was healthy... I could play the sports I wanted to, I could run the hike into Cameron Falls, I didn't have many activities that I couldn't do or limitations... I certainly wasn't an olympic athlete, but I could do what I wanted. And I didn't fit into the numbers that I thought meant I was healthy. At the time, I thought I was grossly overweight... And by classical definitions, I was (according to the body mass index).

So, what does it mean to be healthy?

Can I ever get to a point where I can accept my own health and feel good about who I am?

Can I ever get to the point where all my good points... my strengths are not negated in my own mind by my excess poundage?

I'm not sure. We'll see!

Happiness is Playing BINGO?!?!?

This TV message struck me as very odd the other day. There was a commercial for scratch and win bingo. The message of the commercial was, essentially, to obtain overall peace and well being, you need to take a minute out of your busy life to play scratch and win bingo. The catch phrase has been around for awhile, but never struck me as odd as it did in this commercial. I'm used to seeing it as the short term, shallow happiness (this doesn't make it much better, only different), but to make the leap to a deep routed sense of happiness coming from a scratch and win ticket - well - that really got to me.

It has me thinking about other messages we hear on the TV:
-A KitKat will give you an instant break
-A recent product provides a quick and easy slushy that will fix everything when you break your kid's model toy...
-If you eat at the Keg, you will be instantly surrounded by great, and great-looking friends.
-If you whiten your teeth, you will suddenly have more confidence and succeed at life.
-If you win millions of dollars, your life will suddenly be wonderful...

I don't think I really gave these messages the credit they deserve, but I've noticed that I am suddenly aware that my teeth aren't as white as they could be. I never noticed that before...

I guess that is why it is important to check the messages that we hear, how they effect us, what they could do to our perception, to our reality...

What do you think?

It Is Finished!!!

After 5 years, I have completed the wall mural in my boy's room. It didn't actually take that long - it took a few days 5 years ago, then I didn't get the castle done until today! Yaaaa!