I love going on vacation. The excitement of visiting my destination always thrills me, especially when all I’ve seen so far is the beautiful promotion of the room to the landscape of what awaits. The brochures always present the best features the property I’m about to visit can offer. From the arrangement of the furniture to the curbside appeal, my pallet is salivating with expectation. And then I arrive…….and that’s when I realize that one and two didn’t quite add up to the “three” I was expecting. As I brush off my disappointment with a positive attitude, my internal instincts waiver between frustration and reality. How in the world could I really trust a picture to produce my fantasy of reality? Was it the lighting, the arrangement of furniture or the seasonal landscape that first seduced me to visit? Perhaps it was just the clever marketing ploy that made me want to believe that something more than my “Calgon” imagination could take me away. None the less, I take a deep breath and chalk this one up to another vacation experience I won’t revisit as I mentally place this destination in the return to sender column. How sad that my only expectation was the beauty of a room and a landscape when it should have been the pleasure of just enjoying a new experience.
There’s just something about unlocking a door to the unknown that is both exciting and (potentially) frustrating all at once, isn’t there? We plan, gear and mentally pack ourselves up to enjoy the unexpected when the bottom of our expectations hits the floor. Most of the time, it isn’t the surroundings that disappointed us but our expectations that the surroundings were suppose to produce.
The same is true when we try anything new/different including a paradigm change in our lives. The imagery of what we expect to occur can quickly be down trodden by part of the outcome (sometimes). We start eating healthy, exercising more and thinking through the what, when and why of how we’re (finally) treating our bodies. Our body, mind and spirit start taking hold of what we’re doing, responding with gratitude. And then…..unexpectedly…..the party’s over, the vacation has ended and we find ourselves inside our most dreaded fear when an unexpected illness or disease creeps inside our body. “What’s the use” we scream inside as we attempt to conquer our fears. “I was so disciplined” we reason. All this work, we might think, was for nothing? Not so fast…
The “key” to a Wellness lifestyle starts through our purpose in practicing what we believe. If our goal to wellness is one dimensional, then so will be our outcome. Practicing what we preach never predicts a personal shield of resistance to everything that could potentially come our way. It simply means we’re preparing ourselves for it to come. No matter if it’s aging, disease, illness or injury, what we’ve invested into our lives is there to provide for our present and future state of being. When we think of “wellness” we should think “bank account”. If the balance is low, so are the funds from which we can withdraw in the future. If the account isn’t earning “interest” then we’re never multiplying our investment (what we consume through nutrition, exercise and faith). If one receives more attention than the other, then we are out of balance.
*Daily commit your mindset to practice “wellness” as a whole (not just parts of a sum total). If your “God” is nutrition or physical exercise, then your off balance. Faith in God is an equal factor in the connection of our mind, body and spirit.
*Never, ever take a vacation from wellness. Just because you stop to rest, go on a trip or have a day off, your body is still going strong on your behalf. If what you’re practicing isn’t enjoyable, you won’t do it. Remember: Keep “wellness” fun and exciting so that you will want to do it, everyday.
*Wellness isn’t a tangible goal as much as it is a state of being. If you’re trying to just lose weight, inches or look good for the party, then “wellness” isn’t what you’re practicing (but vanity is). Achieving balance in your life through a wellness lifestyle imparts all the benefits you will ever need when the time comes for you to enjoy the return on your investment.
Quick Tips for Wellness: Wellness isn’t a tangible goal as much as a state of being.
Quick Tips for Wellness, Pat Ferguson, Copyright © 2011, All Rights Reserved
No comments:
Post a Comment