Truth be told, the truth doesn’t have to hurt all the time. But when it comes to talking about health and wellness, and why were aren’t necessarily healthy and well, hearing the truth delivers some semblance of pain. And it is often met with resistance.
There are many reasons we aren’t so healthy and well: diet, environmental toxins, chemical build up on the body, disorganization and the stress it causes, lack of exercise. The list is long. The list is varied.
And yet all reasons play a role in how we get well and why it can be so hard. There often isn’t just one, quick answer so there is little instant gratification on the road to wellness.
Which is yet another truth that can hit you where it hurts.
Wellness isn’t a perfect state to which we should aspire to achieve. After all, there is no perfect – just perfect enough. And when it comes to being well that is a positive truth to embrace.
Here is the truth:
We are all damaged in some way. No one has the privilege of either being born perfectly healthy or living life in such a way that the result is perfect health. Under the hood, in places we can’t see and often can’t feel, we are damaged.
We are damaged because of what our parents ate before we were born and because of what they fed us as children that is now deemed dangerous. {It’s not their fault. And where the blame lies is a topic for another blog. But to whet your whistle on food politics and where things have gone terribly wrong, check out anything written by Marion Nestle. Perhaps start with Food Politics}.
We are damaged by so much of we eat now. Despite all of the solid information out there, we fight against embracing this truth. {Yes, I am talking about gluten!}. We are damaged by what we breathe in and how insufficiently we are able to let things out. We are over-tired, stressed, inactive, cluttered, and unhappy.
To work towards wellness we have to undo, rethink, pay attention.
We have to allow ourselves to hear things and then see what resonates as truth for us – individually. Instead we spend so much time debating this study or that news article that we are distracted from our own truth.
We look outside for answers instead of within.
And the truth is, within is where all the answers lie.
It can feel easier to talk about and complain and stay confused by too much information, than to investigate, research and listen to the truth that is within us.
No one else need tell you what the truth is. You just need to know it.
As a [recovering] perfectionist, when I first realized that we are all damaged, that truth definitely hurt.
But only until I realized the positive side.
Not only does embracing it help me realize there is no room for perfectionism when it comes to fixing things to get and stay healthy. But it forces me – if I want to be as well as I can – to listen to what my body is saying and to listen to what bothers me, what makes me feel good, what is still a question, or what feels unsolved.
It’s my truth because it is my body, my life, and my journey.
I’d rather feel the hurt of the truth and work towards wellness than spin my wheels wondering and worrying. Or ignoring and feel less-than-vibrant.
There are always solutions. There are always new ways to see things and new information to digest. And there is always another side to the hurt.
You are the only one who can get you on the other side.
That truth may hurt but understanding it could be your best chance to health and wellness.
