Awareness

What did you eat yesterday? How far did you walk? These questions seem simple, but many of us don’t know the answer without really thinking about it. Why is this the norm for us? Well, we have a lot to do on a day to day basis and it is often a challenge to keep these things in the front of our minds. Work, errands and other tasks have become more important to us then what we do to maintain our health. Our minds and bodies have become afterthoughts and it is normal to go days, months, even years without consciously focusing on the way we treat ourselves.

Normal doesn’t mean good. In this case, normal doesn’t even mean ok. This is actually a real problem for us both as individuals and as a society. In this case, normal needs to change. We need to put our health higher on the list of priorities. You’ve heard me talk about this before and you will definitely hear me talk about it again. I think this is the more important thing we can do for ourselves and our families.

Awareness is the key. All we have to do is pay attention. You can try the next trend, new craze or take an old-school approach. You can seek professional help or go it alone, but the key component is increasing your awareness. Every day we do things out of habit that impact our lives significantly. One minute of eating can add enough calories to your day to cause weight gain.

One minute of planning can also prevent this from happening. That’s right, it goes both ways. By being aware of what you want to do, you are able to start making decisions. These decisions will likely be healthy decisions because they are in line with your goals. If you don’t have goals, you will have a tough time deciding what to do. So, set a goal and notice how your choices start to match the path you need to be on to reach that goal.

And that is what awareness can do for you. Just thinking about your health, you can positively impact it. You are in control. If you are driving a car your awareness as a driver keeps your hands on the wheel to make sure you stay on the road. Take the wheel in your life, pay attention and you will be on the road to good health.