Making the most of a healthy life

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Richard -Coeur de Lion

One of the delights of taking time out to travel is that you get to see so much; to experience other peoples cultures and, if you're lucky, to immerse yourself in a bit of history too! The young bride and I have just spent the week in the Loire valley in France, curtsey of a delightful couple - Marinette and Claude - who speak not a word of English but make up for that with hearts as big as trucks!

I mention all this because it has a tenuous link to health too and also explains why I lapsed into silence from blogging, as internet access is not always available when you want it!

On my return yesterday I went to check my very crowded inbox and also to check up on what had been happening in the health world: I was struck by the "cloistered" world that we seem to build up around ourselves even though we now claim to have made the world a smaller place through social media. By that I mean that health has become a means to an "end" - being 100% well - which is itself both fragile and finite. Whilst standing in an ancient Abbey and looking at the tomb of Richard the Lionheart, a childhood hero of mine, the thought struck me that he must have thought that he was "invincible" too and probably never doubted that he would live to "make old bones". And Elanor of Aquitaine also - she who was not only married to the King of France, but followed that up by marrying the King of England, which means that she must have been some "lady"! But even she lies in a gilded coffin.

My point is that, yes, we should maximize our health potential by adopting those things that we know will help us pursue our other goals in life, but health should not be the "new religion" that promises good health and long lives to one and all. The second point is that we need to put as much effort into our psychological/spiritual life as we do into our physical life in order that we get a more balanced perspective on life, and this means incorporating meditation/prayer into our daily rituals too. This is not something new for we humans but something that mankind has been naturally doing since they first stopped dragging their knuckles along the ground! It's just that it doesn't get mentioned much in the health and well-being literature these days!

So to all the Health Care Industry "out there", my suggestion is to take a well-deserved break and have a good look at the world around you, then sit down and reflect and maybe - just maybe - we'll start to see how hope can be a part of health at whatever end of the spectrum you might be.