How Healthy is Your Well?

Pancakes on the table for breakfast, a whole chicken in the crock pot for dinner, breakfast dishes done, three of the three off to school, a blank calendar this afternoon, and yoga in about 40 minutes.  Mornings like this, when things fall into place without chaos or confrontation, come few and far between in our home but the span is getting shorter as we move deeper into our evolution toward eudaimonia.

Eudaimonia?  A great word to research and investigate, for sure, but for short it means 'human flourishing'.  Physical wellness.  Financial wellness.  Spiritual wellness.  Holistic Wellness.  Well.  The human body is much like a well; everything that comes in contact with it contaminates or cleanses the entire being.  Eudaimonia is a state in which a being is able to appreciate, assimilate or convert all things it comes in contact with into nourishment, positive energy and practical wisdom.  A desirable state indeed.

Our evolution started with simple, conscious changes.  Drinking water in the morning to rehydrate the body and allow the cells to breathe.  Eliminating breakfast cereals was the next step; an exchange of unidentifiable ingredients for oats, eggs, whole wheat pancakes and whole grain breads.  Exercise was next.  Less time watching others participate in life on the television and more time actually participating in life.  Down-hilll skiing, mountain and road biking, 5 and 10k organized running, yoga, hiking, and conscious cooking.  We have also learned to encourage our children to run, to jump, to play, to laugh, to ski and to do it along with them more and more.  Today we are on change number 721, at least.

Change happens over time, not over night.  At times when I feel my evolution has taken a vacation I preform an evaluation of progress (yesterday was one of those days).  Evaluation is born of the beautiful word 'value', cousin to valuable.  I am valuable.  My husband, my children, our finances, our home, and our wellness is valuable, as is our progress toward eudaimonia.  I encourage you all to evaluate how healthy your well is.  You will most certainly find positive change among the mistakes and progress among the set backs;  appreciate yourself for all of your movement in the right direction.

Then celebrate.  Make a beautiful meal of real, naturally occurring food, wash in the goodness with water, give your vitamins their vitamins and, as always, remember to wash your hands.  Be glad in it, reader, for you choose your evolution!

Anna~