Healthy Living DIY

Awareness and everyday life. We've just completed a series of 6 short articles on different signs that everyday life may be undermining your health. Today, we'll tie all six signs together under one heading: awareness.

Why would I have written a series of articles identifying 6 things that, when they aren't going well in a person's life, should be obvious signs that something's off? Well...

Healthy Paradoxes. What's a paradox but a statement (in this case a pair of statements) that appears to contradict itself. Check out this pair:

When it comes to creating health, it's all about the food; When it comes to creating health, food is secondary to what goes on in your mind.

The paradox is that both parts have some truth.

I just returned from the Acres USA Eco-Farming conference. It was awesome! So at the moment, I'm way into maximizing the nutritional value of what we eat -- after all, those were the conference sessions I attended.

I think it's fairly safe to say that the average "Joe" really can't create optimal health without doing something proactive to get the best nutrients into his body that he can find. Think about it. One guy lives on cardboard white bread and candy bars and the other guy loves leafy greens, squash, and blueberries. Who's gonna have the better building blocks?

And yet...

It's another healthy paradox! Remember from last time that a paradox is a statement (or pair of statements) that appears to conflict with itself.

Today's paradox is this one: Feelings are at the same time your best friend and your worst saboteur. On the one hand, they can alert you to subtleties of your environment and your experience that you'd most likely never notice in any other way.

In his book The Feeling of What Happens, Dr. Antonio DaMasio says that feelings "are poised at the very threshold that separates being from knowing.” As you go through the rest of this day, notice how many times you become aware of something important as a result of a feeling:

• I feel chilly: maybe the furnace went out.


• I feel exhausted: I've really let myself get over-committed.


• I feel restless: things aren't going well on the job.


• I feel alarmed: we're in immediate danger.

Feelings are often the first signal that something's slightly amiss. Pay attention, and we often have the opportunity to react quickly to prevent trouble. Ignore your feelings, and it could very literally cost you your life.

And yet ...

I hope y'all had a really great holiday. In fact, I hope it was perfect!

Which brings us around to another healthy paradox. Perfection.

Ironic, isn't it, that many of us see our supposed faults all too clearly. Too short, too tall. Too blonde, too brunette. Too talented at one thing, not talented enough at the other. Too yin, too yang. Too lax, too ... well, perhaps too perfectionistic!

And yet when someone else points out one of those very self-same supposed shortcomings, we'll fight to the death to convince them (and ourselves) that it doesn't exist. Funny!

Try this on for size: The truth is you are perfect. Furthermore, everyone you know is perfect! Now there's some food for thought!

Happy New Year! This is the time of year you'll see a bunch of "Top 10" lists for how to improve your life in the new year. Well, I object. How can you stay focused on ten things? Instead, my suggestion is this:

Pick one.

Sure, you can do other things throughout the year. Of course you will. But keep your focus narrow and you can achieve spectacular results!

Of course, you'll want to focus on your most important objective. Think you already know what it is? Don't be too sure. Try this simple exercise before you decide.