Having the health and energy to create our vision of our best life really is mission-critical. If we do not have our health, we have nothing. Speaking as someone who comprehensively lost my health through a period of complete adrenal burnout, I can testify to this! I had the love of my life, a great job, good money, a nice house, but I couldn't enjoy any of it. That whole episode of my life was driven by, in retrospect, a crazy decision to rarely prioritise my body or my health. I want to make sure you have a much better foundation for happiness, so in this section we are going to look at body image, health choices and wellbeing as the basis for a truly happy life lived to the full.
Take a moment right now to pause. Check in with your body. How well are you taking care of it? How well are you listening to its messages to move, refuel and rest? When was the last time you treated your body to a massage or a rest?
And how do you feel about your body? Do you love it? Are you ashamed of it? How do you talk to it? Like the enemy or a treasured pet? Do you tell it off for being too old? Too tired? Too fat? Too slow?
We have only one body and it will see us through the entirety of our life. Your body is where you experience pleasure and joy. It carries you through your day. It bears your children. As I have written before, it is the moving temple of the soul.
By the time we get through this section I want you to be in a place where you are embracing your body, taking care of it, making self-care a regular priority and listening and trusting the messages it sends you.
• Think of three adjectives you would use to describe your body right now... What are they?
• What are three words that you would like to be using when describing your body?
• Make the decision to treat your body with respect today. What's one thing you could do to honour your body? Go to bed an hour earlier? Go for a walk at lunchtime? Choose a really healthy lunch? It doesn't have to be a massive effort, just a tiny step towards better body awareness and care.
• One thing I am going to do to honour my body today is...
Action step
Your body is the moving temple of your soul: make sure you do at least one nice thing for it today.
This is the fourth pillar in our habits of happiness series. The first three were:
3. Develop a delicious vision of your future
Louise Thompson is a life coach, yoga teacher and corporate escapee. For more from Louise, visit positivebalance.co.nz or connect on Facebook.