The Recipe for Wellbeing- Part 3

I've just remembered it's pancake day, or 'Fat Tuesday', or 'Mardi Gras'! The day of eating up all the fat and flour in preparation for Lent. Which is quite fitting! We've already looked at how important relationships and freedom are, and today's addition in the recipe for wellbeing is health.

It seems obvious, but we can't be truly happy if our health is lacking. Our physical and mental health have a huge impact on our ablity to achieve a good sense of wellbeing, and it's a good place to start if you're going to try making some improvements in your life. I'm no doctor, and I'm certainly not the fittest person I know, but in general terms I think I'm pretty healthy. I've given up smoking, I eat good and healthy food, and my mental health is in a pretty good place right now, but there are still a lot of things I can do to improve my health, and I'm sure its the case for most of us.

The subject of 'health' and ways to improve it is pretty easy to understand and I'm not going to pretend I have anything new to add to this. We all know we need to eat healthy nutricious food, cut down on sugar, not smoke, don't drink alcohol in excess, exercise etc. and that's about all I'm going to say on any of these subjects today. BUT, I do want to emphasise the importance of health in our wellbeing recipe.

If our body isn't working as it should it's extremely difficult to achieve any success in any of the other areas that are vital to our wellbeing, and yet people often neglect their health and leave it at the bottom of the pile of priorities. How can we be happy if we're tired, run down, ill, and struggling? I know a lot of people who haven't been to see a doctor in years, and yet these are the same people who often complain about not feeling well. It's a simple solution, but a lot of people don't go to their GP enough and ignore big warning signs that their health is suffering.

In the UK we are extremely lucky that a visit to the doctor is free! I lived in the US for most of my teenage life, and saw first hand how the cost of healthcare puts people off getting medical help. If you've seen Breaking Bad, you'll know what I'm talking about! So my first recommendation here is for God's sake go to your GP and get a check up! It's free, it's easy, and it could improve your general wellbeing enormously.

My second recommendation is to start making your health a priority. Whether you need to exercise more (guilty!), or make changes to your diet, or give up smoking, or whatever your health complaints are, start making this more of a priority in your day. It can be helpful to make small gradual changes rather than big one's, but the more little changes you make, the easier getting healthy will be.

We are strange creatures aren't we? I don't know of another animal on this planet that deliberately does things that are damaging to it's health. It's hard in today's society to be oblivious to the impact of certain things on our health, and yet we talk about how difficult it is to change these habits in order to get healthier. It was hard giving up smoking, and yet I knew how dangerous it was, and I didn't gain anything from doing it! Now I've given up, I wonder why it took me so long. Our health should not be a battle, but one of our top priorities.

So if you've got no idea where to start on improving your wellbeing, start with the most important factor in your life; your health. It's cheesy, but your body really is a temple, and if you treat yourself with care and respect, you'll be happier in no time!

Enjoy your pancakes, but consider giving your health a bit of Boost. You won't regret it!