How's the health of YOUR mind?

Health.  Usually when we think of this concept we are bombarded with images of eating salads and hitting the stair-master, and while these are parts of health, the angle I want to address is health as an overall life-long concept.  Health is more than just what we eat, or how many miles we can run (if any at all),  but instead to me, health is a mind set, and it practiced in every decision we make.

The benefits of proper eating and regular exercise are nothing new at this point and I don't really feel the need to go into them.  More importantly to me, health exists in the way we think.  How we think dictates how we live our lives.  Negative thoughts and energies only lead us down negative roads.   If we tell ourselves "This is impossible", "I can't do that", "There's no way that'll happen", then it never will, because if you believe in those words you are only giving yourself permission not to try, not to push your self to see what you can truly accomplish. 

If we don't believe we can do something, then we lose motivation... after all, why bother, right.  Once we lose motivation we then become sedentary with our physical actions and complacent with habits in life style.  Once we are complacent we no longer move forward and we stop growing as individuals, and much like a tree, if we're not growing, we're dying.

I see it all the time in my line of work as a Paramedic.  Many of our calls are for people who have caused much of the problem they needs us for.  People who have laid around and eaten or smoked themselves right into heart disease, diabetes, cancers, obesity and other problems.  People who have joint problems due to excessive weight, so they don't move around much, which causes them to turn everything they eat to fat, which in turn causes the joint problem to worsen.  It's a difficult cycle to break from, both physically and mentally.

Most of these types of people suffer not only from unhealthy bodies, but also from unhealthy minds.  It is the negativity in their minds that leads to the actions that cause the physical problems.  A lot of these people we're told as children by those around them that their never gonna amount to anything, that they are stupid for having dreams and life would be easier if they just gave up on them and excepted the real world.

Negative words like that can be seeds.  When those seeds are planted in our minds, it is our negative actions that will water them and make them grow and make them become stronger. Negative begets negative.  

Thankfully, positive seeds work the exact same way.  We need to shed ourselves of those that tell us we can't do something, or laugh at us, or shoot down our dreams.  In order to succeed and be healthy we have to surround ourselves with positive people.  Like minded people who support you and believe in you.  Once those positive seeds are planted, and you begin to see yourself make small accomplishments, you will want to strive for more, and you will begin to do things to water those seeds of positivity in your mind.

When you accomplish things you develop pride in yourself, and you re-enforce that things can happen if you push yourself and make them happen.  This gives you a reason to keep your body moving and keep your mind healthy.  This also allows you to deal with obstacles, adversity, and tragedies in your life and find the inner strength to pull you through.

Like I said, I see people in my line of work all the time who have given up on life.  People who are in their 50 and sixties that say things like "I'm too old"  and look back at their younger days like it was the only time they were capable of enjoying what life has to offer.  Truth be told, life will off what ever take from it.  If you believe life has nothing to offer, then you'll never take anything form it worth living for either.

Three of my heros' in this world are Guro Dan Inosanto, Sensei Tadashi Yamashita, and Taika Seiyu Oyata.  Not because they are my martial arts instructors, but because they are all in their 70's or just under seventy, and they are still the smoothest, fastest, sharpest people in the room at whatever seminar they are teaching.  They have positive attitudes toward life and the rewards you can reap from it.  These men did not start out as the top authorities in their fields, but they all believed they could accomplish it, and took the steps to make it so, despite waht others may have thought along the way.  They we're not going to let the words of any other person stop them from where they wanted to go, and where they wanted to take their arts..  These men are good examples of healthy minds.

In conclusion, I'm sure that as you are reading this right now you can think of something you would like to achieve in your life, big or small, so the real question is... is your mind healthy enough for you to accomplish it? 

-Sensei T. Kent Nelson