Have Fun

I make some assumptions in my business slogan and my related theory about living a wellness-focused lifestyle:
feel good ~ have fun ~ be well

I say, to be well, you must feel good. To feel good, you must have some fun. No, not necessarily constant fun nor continuous euphoria. But a lack of fun and good feelings suggests something less than wellness as the hallmark of your lifestyle.

Hopefully, when you're not well, it's only temporary. Because my theory is true in reverse, too: when you're not well, it's not fun and it doesn't feel good. To dig out, you might have to force yourself back into whatever you can enjoy and what rewards you with feel-good satisfaction.

Now, there are some other related assumptions many of us make, which I am coming to realize are not necessarily true.

Let's consider a few:

1. Exercise is strenuous and challenging and I don't like it.
Nope, not true. Physical activity is often fun, and of course it's okay if it comes easy to you. What do you like to do? What feels natural? Do you like to garden? Visit with friends? Explore and learn about new things? All of these and more can bring fun to your exercise.

Also, some exercise is restorative, peaceful and gentle. Stretching is exercise, for example. So is tai chi, which seeks to center and renew you, not wear you down. Consider swimming... not to race, but to glide through the water. All these and more can help you feel good.

2. Eating healthfully takes a lot of time, money & dedication.
No it doesn't. I'll use myself as a prime example. I don't have a lot of any of those things and I am regularly eating healthfully. Sometimes I eat unhealthy stuff, too. But mostly, I have fun with and/or feel good about what I am eating.

I recommend people take 15 minutes to make a list of all their favorite foods and include foods they know are healthy but they enjoy eating them. Jog your memory at whf.org (World's Healthiest Foods) where you can view a list that is bound to include dozens of items you enjoy eating. Also, include some foods that look good, that you've never even tried.

Then buy a couple of the above items every week and eat them. Don't like to cook? Have fun with raw foods. There are all sorts of great resources for free, both online and at the library. Don't have much time to prepare healthy foods? Don't be silly, that's a terrible excuse. Healthy foods take less time to prepare. No need do a lot of fancy stuff with blueberries or red peppers or cod or avocado to make them delicious. Have fun experimenting!

On a tight budget? Americans ate more nutritious dinners during the Great Depression than they do now. How? They made beans, grains and local produce go a long way. Broths from bones. Root vegetables that stored for months. They didn't dine out or eat a bunch of packaged processed foods. It was simpler and cheaper, not more expensive or more complicated.

You'll feel better as soon as you admit you're making stuff up about how hard it is to nourish yourself.

3. It's vanity/selfishness to pay such attention to oneself.
Oh, poppycock. A better question is who can afford to leave their own care and keeping to chance, that is, if they want to feel better and have more fun? No one can do that for you.

Of course it's not vain to accept responsibility for your own lifestyle, and the results that show up inside your body and outwardly, too. It's not selfish to be strong and vital and happy--yes, on purpose. How much can you bring to the world when you've let yourself become weakened, fatigued or uninspired?

In closing today, I've got to smile as I ask you, is it vain or selfish to SAVE YOUR OWN LIFE? Check this out:
Woman's Abs Save Her Life