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November 2008: Reasons to be Thankful
There are always reasons to be thankful. No matter how hard things may be for you at times, it could ALWAYS be worse. The state of one's health is a perfect example of this, it is one of those things that people take for granted until it changes for the worse. Whether you are perfectly healthy, recovering from an injury, or battling a serious illness, it could always be worse, so take a deep breath and focus on what you DO have and how to improve upon it. This is tough lesson for one to learn!
DON'T wait until you have lost an aspect of your health and desperately wish to have it back before you do the following:
- Wake up every single morning and express your gratitude for the current state of your health.
- Do everything you can to improve your health so you can continue to enjoy every moment of life to its fullest and to give your body the greatest possible resources to combat any illness or injury that may come your way.
Ask yourself the following questions:
- What are the things that you cherish most about your health?
- What three activities would you miss most if your health were to be compromised?
- If someone were to tell you that you would lose these abilities tomorrow wouldn't you do everything that you could to protect yourself?
Well… today is the day to take action and think preventatively about your health. Take charge, make a commitment, and be as healthy as you can be.
So… how do you do it??? Whenever you take on a large task you should always try to “chunk it down” to small manageable steps so you are not overwhelmed but the larger task at hand. Here are some small, manageable steps to help you start thinking and acting proactively about your health.
- Add one additional serving of a fruit or vegetable to your diet every week for one month. Then keep these 4 additional items in your diet from here on out!
- Remove one poor dietary choice from your diet every week for one month. Then stick with it! Good suggestions include: food containing trans fats, aspartame, a particular deep fried food, diet and/or regular soda, one prepackaged meal that you could easily make from scratch (mac & cheese is a great example of this).
- Add 10 minutes every week to your fitness routine so at the end of one month you are consistently exercising 40 minutes more per week.
- Change one activity that you do on a regular basis to make your life more active - stop taking elevators and climb the stairs, carry your bags opposed to taking a cart when possible, park far away from the entrance of a store opposed to circling the lot three times to find the nearest spot (you know who you are!!!).
Most importantly, start thinking about how you can take steps NOW to improve and maintain your health so you will always have more rather than less to be thankful for each and every day!!!