The Final and not so final post.

• “Once we have firmly turned toward our deepest self, gradually, petal by petal and realization by realization, our inner life will unfold. We will then be on the most direct path to a profound and enduring health, happiness, and wholeness” (Dacher 2006). I really love that quote. It is important for health and wellness professionals to develop psychologically, spiritually, and physically so they/we can help our clients do the same. If you’re anything like me, and I know I am, you like watching shows like House M.D. Imagine what health and wellness would look like if the professionals were all like House M.D. He’s an extreme example but I think most of us have had an experience with a practitioner who wasn’t really listening to us or concerned with what we felt, some have even gotten outright jerks.  Modern medicine has lost countless patients because of unwillingness to be humble. Humility is just one thing I need to develop to achieve the goals I have for myself. I must work the most on psychological development because I tend to have a very fatalistic outlook towards the future. This mindset is not conducive towards achieving goals or having faith in people.
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•   Assessment-wise, I have assed my health using a rating scale of horrible to excellent (horrible, bad, fair, good, excellent). I am not horrible in any area but it seemed like a natural place to start. Physically my score is good. It is good because I do work out regularly and watch what I eat but not enough to get me to the next level. Psychologically I am fair. As I stated above I need to work on expanding my definitions of what is possible. Spiritually I would say I am good. There is still a huge amount of room for improvement here. I can be very judgmental and ungracious but I have become and am becoming more loving towards people, but not mosquitoes, they can die.
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• On a less itchy note; in each area I have a goal to reach. My physical goal is to get down to a size ten by graduation (about a year). To accomplish this goal I will have to continue working out and make sure I don’t get lazy on my food. My psychological goal is to set aside a time each week to meditate for at least ten minutes. After the first month I should be meditating twice a week and by the seventh month I will be meditating every day for at least ten minutes. I know meditation is one of those things that can develop us spiritually and mentally but I chose to make it a part of my psychological goals. I will be doing the loving kindness meditation and the stillness meditation to start though I may find another I like.  I will start this program starting August first so it will be easy to track. My spiritual goal will be to read my bible or pray after each meditation, that way there will already be a time slotted for it.
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•   More specifically, for me to reach my goals and continue to grow physically, psychologically, and spiritually I will need to incorporate various exercises into my life. Physically I will try new, healthy recipes at least once a month. This will help me eat healthier and expand my culinary abilities because unfortunately I am not very good at cooking vegetables and yes I know they are healthier raw but I love in your face taste. (Extreme broccoli...just trying it out, moving on.) Another exercise I can incorporate physically is yoga. Adding yoga to my fitness program once a week would really help my muscles and metabolism since most of what I do is cardio it will be good to break it up with yoga. Psychologically speaking a good exercise is Sudoku. Number puzzles are very good to keep up cognitive functioning and since I don’t have to do too much with numbers otherwise this will be good for my brain. The next mental exercise will really come into play after I finish school: reading for knowledge and growth. After school is over I need to make sure I don’t just read for pleasure, though that is important. I need to regularly read books that will teach me and help me grow. I am thinking I should not count magazines, even good ones like the Nutrition Action Newsletter because it isn’t quite as in depth as an actual book. Spiritually, the first exercise is part of my mental goals but it also a spiritual practice; it is the loving-kindness meditation. This meditation is very important for fostering love for everyone, including myself. The final exercise is prayer. I am good at praying with the girls before their bedtime but I tend to neglect my own prayer life. Prayer is its own kind of meditation and I can substitute regular meditation for prayer sometimes. It’s in the quite that we can hear God best.
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• In conclusion, good goals come with their own progress assessment. That being said, in six months I can check the progress of my physical goal by trying on my size ten pants and seeing how well they fit. Ideally they would fit fine but if they don’t I know how much work I still have to do. Mentally it will be more difficult for me to track my progress on my own. I will probably ask those closest to me if they have noticed a change in me in the last six months. If they answer in the affirmative I know that I have been making progress, if they answer in the negative I will whip myself with noodles or just restart the meditation regime. Spiritually I will measure my progress by how connected I feel to God and people. Do I feel closer or at the same space? If I do not feel closer I either haven’t done enough or I let my new habits slide. The strategy I have for maintaining my long term practice is to not let myself get out of my habits while away from home. I have noticed that it is easy to go on vacation and lose all progress on goals, which is what happened to me a year ago. Even as I go to family reunions, cruises (hopefully), or weddings (yay) I won’t let myself stop doing the things I need to. After all we don’t stop brushing our teeth or bathing on vacation do we?

Dacher, E. (2006) Integral Health: The Path to Human Flourishing. Basic Health Publications Inc. Laguna Beach, CA.