Health: The Dynamic Journey
Joy Stepinski, MSN, RN-BC
Have you ever heard people say “When you get old, it’s important to have your health,” like health is an end goal trying to be conquered? While optimal health may be an important aspiration for which to strive, expanding current mindset may help to avoid feeling like it is an insurmountable task that must be achieved. Like many paths in life, health is not actually a final destination. Rather, it is a dynamic journey of continuous challenges in an attempt to reach wholeness and balance. In fact, the Old English word hǣlth means the state of being whole or sound.
We live enveloped in an internal and external environment. Internally, our mind encompasses emotion, free will, imagination, thoughts, feelings, behavior, and intellect. Our body is more of a physical nature with physiological components including neurological, genetic, and biochemical traits. Our spirit is the eternal aspect of health and the relationship with God. On the other hand, the external environment comprises our place of living, community, and connection to others.
Many cultures do not consider health as one cause and effect. Yet in the United States, we tend to compartmentalize each problem we may encounter. However, looking at whole health, each choice is actually related to our entire being. The food we eat can affect our heart, which can then influence our mind. Not drinking enough water can play a role in our mental clarity. The shock of a traumatic experience can be buried deep within our body and show as a symptom of pain.
Instead of an end-goal, we can reframe health as a dynamic journey towards wholeness: wholeness internally and externally. In this life journey, we navigate our own course through our choices and decisions. These choices come in many forms, such as how we nourish our body, our relationships with those around us, and the way we perceive ourselves. Similar to the metamorphosis of a butterfly, health is a journey that can transform in unexpectant ways, transcending experiences of difficulty, distress, and suffering into change. Our bodies have the potential to heal. This lifetime process of seeking wholeness is present in every single one of our lives.