Not enough time for it all

Who isn't "short on time" this time of year? Often when time is limited the first thing to drop off the list is exercise and other wellness activities. In fact, "I just don't have time" continues to be the #1 reason year round for not exercising daily, not eating nutritious food or not intentionally relaxing. Prioritizing anything ahead of wellness activities in your daily schedule is a classic example of wrong action and will lead to poor results everytime. Literally.

In the book Discover Wellness: How staying healthy can make you rich, authors Dr. Bob Hoffman and Dr. Jason Deitch discuss the incredibly huge costs associated with medical care - even if you have insurance coverage. They argue, and rightly so, that the amount of money you save over the course of your lifetime if you stay healthy is enough to live very well indeed! Our current medical bill is around $2,000,000,000,000 (that's trillion!). That's 16% of our nation's gross domestic product or in more personal terms: $20,000 per person per year.

Another good argument often posed for staying healthy is the foolishness of working yourself sick making a nice nest egg only to die or worse suffer a major downgrade in the quality of your life right at the point you finally have an opportunity to enjoy the fruits of your labor. Sadly this happens quite often. Jim Collins in his best seller Good to Great about the process that creates enduring, great companies describes how one of his featured CEO's after years of incredible challenge dropped dead of a heart attack in his office moments after speaking to the board of directors on the very day their ultimate triumph was announced. Bummer.

Both of these arguments for health and wellness are good, but they are not the most important reason to be actively engaged in creating wellness every single day. The most important reason is that you can only achieve growth and positive change in any aspect of your life to the level that you have achieved a state of physical wellness. You will be limited in all aspects of your life to the exact degree that you neglect or abuse your physical body.

Think of it this way: if you are planning a drive across the country, there are many aspects of the trip that you must take care of. If however you take care of all the fun details like which route to take, which bed and breakfasts to stay in, but neglect the vehicle you will be using for this trip, what is the probability that you will have a successful journey? If you neglect minor details then you may get by with a few delays and inconveniences, but if you neglect major aspects of vehicle maintenance because you just didn't have time to get it done, expect to spend a lot of time on the side of the road waiting for a tow truck rather than marvelling at the sights of the Rocky Mountains looming in the distance. Oh, and count on paying the tow truck in cash...

Want to become a better person? Take care of your body.
Want to grow or launch your own business? Take care of your body.
Want to be your best as a parent, teacher, friend, spouse? Take care of your body.
Want to grow spiritually? Take care of your body.
Want to make more money? Take care of you body.
Want to feel happier and more satisfied? Take care of your body.
Want to make a difference in the world? Take care of your body.

There is an expression in spiritual circles that goes, "We are spiritual beings having a physical experience." Sadly, most of us fail to recognize that this truth implies an equation that flows in both directions. What is physical affects the spiritual and what is spiritual affects the physical.

Consider the most often cited reason for not engaging in daily wellness activities: "I just don't have time." Knowing what you know now about the instant and inevitable effects of neglecting our physical body on every aspect of our life, does this line of reasoning still work for you? Can you sense how the activies that move us towards physical health can and must become the foundation for creating the life of your dreams?

Does this mean you must be in ideal health before you can move forward on your dreams? No. Wellness does not mean physical perfection. It simply means that are engaged in the process to being as physically healthy as you can be.

A daily dose of wellness is your ticket to success in every aspect of your life in 2008. Stay informed and inspired to realize your greatness with the free newsletter Trilogy Wellness Foundations. Take action: If you are not signed up to recieve your own copy, sign up now at www.trilogy-wellness.com. You'll be glad you did!

Happy New Year everyone.