Hot Summer Nights and Days and Days...

 Does the weather affect your journey to Vibrant Health?

My experience with summer temperatures in the 90s and low 100s was a normal constant as a child and young adult.  Then I spent a year on a tropical island, where I learned about high humidity.  When I returned to more moderate climates, I realized my goal was to live in a cooler climate with low humidity.  

Why do I prefer temperatures in the 70s?  Well I can be so much more active without being drenched in sweat.  Not that I dislike going into the sauna, but ice cold water usually does the trick to feel great again and within an hour I am refreshed, cleansed and am wearing dry clothes, unlike the entire outdoor world being a sauna for 18 hours a day.  I enjoy walking around(as opposed to hiking) in nature and it is just nicer to enjoy the trees, views, and bird sounds without having to constantly wipe sweat from my face. 

Living for a few summer in the mountains also gave me an appreciation for swimming in clear cold mountain water.  Somehow it was easier for me to maintain a healthy lifestyle when the temperature was pleasant.   

Nowadays I live in an area that gets a few hot days during the summer but nothing like the entire summers of my young years.  However, this year there have been record breaking high temperatures here, for days on end and repeating periods.   I am struggling to stick to my lifestyle choices, doing activities outside sucks the energy right out of me, so I retreat to a cooler indoor spot.  Unfortunately we have smoke in the air from forests burning, making the air unhealthy for breathing so I don't force myself to be active outdoors.  So there goes my physical activity outdoors aspect of my chosen lifestyle.  

Summer is a wonderful time with all the plants in full foliage and garden plants producing fresh vegetables.  The excess heat makes me worry and help my garden to stay alive and takes away a bit of the enjoyment I usually have outside on the property.  I have even caught a thought of wishing for autumn and coolness, I banish those thoughts immediately because I want to be present in my life now.

I am choosing to enjoy summer and look for alternatives activities during the extra hot days.   How about you?

On to Vibrant Health no matter the temperatures!

Note to self: Relax and Focus

Having completed the first year of a hard push societal change with a media driven health theme, it's time to chat with myself.   How do I choose to be?  I have stated that "Vibrant Health" is my goal.  Do I now envision Vibrant Health differently than before?  My answer is Yes.  

How to achieve that state of Vibrant Health is more complex than defining the goal, especially when societal norms have been pushed in a very short timeframe.  Now many types of relationships are viewed differently and that definitely affects our emotions for sure.   Formerly usual events and activities are no longer available, if we received joy by participating in the past, where to find the same amount of joy now?  

Resilience, creativity, flexibility, adaptability, these represent scales of ability to act in situations.  Some people with high ability on these scales can be doing very well, however, what about someone with low ability on these scales.   How are you doing with your emotional health?  How are you doing with your physical health?  How are you doing in your relationships?   

As a Heretical Hermit my small circle and limited event going has turned miniscule and non existent!  That is different but not too much so  - maybe shrinkage by 25%.  For Vivacious Social Travelers on the other hand, some of their circles and events experienced shrinkage of 90%. 

So in my path to Vibrant Health what are my next steps?  I have done some deep soul searching along with a bit of denial / escapism.  Now is the time to take action, time to choose and act on taking a leap into the future as I want to make it.  Nurturing every bit of  resilience, creativity, flexibility, and adaptability I have, to act on my purpose and my future.

Personally, I need to Relax overall and Focus only next step actions on my chosen pathway to Vibrant Health.  How about you?

Onward to Vibrant Health!

 

Vibrant Health or Not Quite?

   As the winter evening falls, I sit and consider the luxury of Vibrant Health.  Should being in Vibrant Health be considered a luxury?  What do you think?

   A person can function quite easily in our current world with any measure of Health that is better than Poor Health.  Even now society is constantly working to be more inclusive and create more adaptive methods for people in a condition of Poor Health to function within society.  Is this to society's credit?  Probably yes.

   How would the condition of living in constant acute pain or chronic pain be classified?  Maybe Marginal Health, in the case of being able to live a moderately active lifestyle while in pain and possibly taking medicines to reduce or dull acute pain from more strenuous activity.  Considering the high number of people who rely on painkillers to function in their chosen lifestyle, Marginal Health seems to be quite a common condition in our society.

   Living with relatively Good Health is a condition of well being that most people strive to maintain.  However, a person's Good Health achievement is measured in various ways depending on their lifestyle priorities and/or necessities.   Some people are quite happy to consider themselves in Good Health if they have no acute pain in their body whilst going about their lives in a sedentary manner.  Up a notch would be folks who have the same idea but with an active lifestyle.  There are people who consider themselves in Good Health even though they have medical conditions that are being managed with medicines, allowing them to lead pain free sedentary or active lifestyles.
 
   Better Health could be a category for persons living a moderately active lifestyle, pain free, and with no symptoms of medical conditions.  Many young people would qualify as having Better Health, at least better than they might experience as they get older. 

   When a person shows no signs of aging(except wisdom), has no medical conditions nor markers for encroaching medical conditions, has no pain, and is able to live a very active lifestyle with ease, we may consider them as being in Vibrant Health.  Wow, that's what I'd like, to be in Vibrant Health!

   Is there a way to improve from Poor Health to Marginal Health to Good Health to Better Health to Vibrant Health?  Most likely it is possible when we consider the human body's amazing ability to heal itself if affecting factors are changed in its favor.   The big question is how to manage and change affecting factors?   Next time... 😀

To Vibrant Health!!