QHealth

                                                             Improving Your Health

                                                    The first wealth is health. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

There are several sayings to the effect that, "if you have your health, you have everything." In this exercise we take time
to appreciate our bodies for the miracle that they are, and the ways in which they serve us. We focus on what is going
well, and what we have to be grateful for. Then we look at how we can begin to expand our health in ways that will help us
achieve more of what we want in our lives.

We each begin this journey in different places. Some of us feel vibrant and physically fit, and some feel weak with
debilitating illness. Regardless of your situation, consider taking a few moments each day to reflect on the following
health thought, and to answer one of the questions.

Health Thought:

In his book Happiness is a Choice, author and consultant Barry Kaufman writes on page 91 that:

Our bodies are undergoing continuous, miraculous change. Regardless of your current state of health, your body is
doing amazing things to keep you alive every moment. Take a minute to appreciate the gift of each breath. Feel you
heart beat, appreciate your ability to see, and take a minute to reflect on the continuous work of every organ and cell in
an average moment.

Now consider how your life might change if you were to significantly improve your health. For some, this might mean
improving the conditions of a debilitating disease. For others, it might be finding a whole new sense of energy and vitality
that they never knew they had. How would a marked shift in health change your life? What would happen if you felt
strong, agile, and full of energy throughout the day? How would things change if you consistently felt good? What would
be different about your life? What would ideal health look like for you?

Now consider the potential opportunity available for change in this dynamic system. There are many choices we make in
a given day that impact our health. We know that choosing healthy foods and drinking plenty of water is good for our
bodies. Walking or other doctor-approved exercise benefits us in a variety of documented ways, and tends to make us
feel better about ourselves in general. Adequate rest and relaxation keep stress at manageable levels, which is so
important in our busy world. There is further research showing that optimistic thinking increases a variety of physical
attributes including life expectancy (Kelm, Appreciative Living, pg 104). There are so many areas we can consider when
we want to make changes in our health.

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Taking all this into consideration, reflect on one or more of the following questions each day:

1. In every moment our lungs breath, our heart pumps, and our brain thinks. For most of us, our ears listen, our eyes
see, our stomaches process, our kidneys and liver cleanse, our intestines absorb and remove, our legs walk, our hands
write, and our hearts feel. We often take all this for granted, and yet each aspect of our bodies is so miraculous. Each
organ and cell is an intense area of study by itself. What aspects of my body can I notice and appreciate today that I
often take for granted?

2. When do I tend to have the most energy, or feel the best during an average day? What is going on at this time? Why
do I feel particularly good during this time and how can I incorporate more of this into each day?

3. Think back in the last two years to a period or experience when you really felt good physically. What was going on
during this peak time and what was I doing, eating, or thinking? What can I learn from this to apply in my life now?

4. Who do I know that are role models for the health that I desire? Who are the people my age, or in my circumstances,
that I admire in terms of their health What do they do? What can I learn from them?

5. What do I believe is possible for me in terms of health? What is the best I believe I can achieve?
These beliefs are my personal limits. Where did these beliefs come from? Would I be willing to consider shifting them in
some small or large way? How? What could I shift them to?

6. Imagine for a moment that your health has miraculously shifted, and is now significantly better in whatever way is
meaningful to you. Spend a minute imagining and feeling this new state of being, and ask yourself the following questions:

In what ways is my health different? How do I feel?
How does this new state of health impact an average day for me?
What would change in my life if I were to consistently feel good?

7. What one thing can you do, no matter how small, to begin moving in the direction of the health you desire?

Copyright 2005 J. Kelm.

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