There's a certain quality we see in healthy people, a certain je ne
sais quoi which isn't always correlated with the signs and
the symbols of what we commonly consider health to be - or with what we
commonly mistake health to be. I've experienced it with
people who are terminal,
yet who are more alive than the people around them taking care of them.
I've experienced it with
people in their nineties,
yet whose alacrity would wear out young adults a quarter
their age. What it is, is a vibrancy, a palpable
presence,
a quality which exudes. It's unmistakable. When you're around
it, you know it - even if you can't put a finger on what it is exactly.
Werner
Erhard
asserts "Health is a function of participation.". This surely isn't the
business as
usual
way of saying what health is. Doesn't health simply correlate with a
certain optimal physical state? Isn't health just a function of a well
maintained, sickness free body? What exactly does
participation
have to do with health?
noun
when you take part or become involved in something
<unquote>
I've been known to rewrite dictionary definitions of words.
The Laurence Platt Dictionary
suggests additional emphasis for certain words which don't take into
account the
language
of
transformation.
This doesn't indicate a failure of the dictionary. What it does
indicate is the English
language
wasn't written for the world of
transformation.
Clearly it was written way before
transformation
emerged on
our planet.
So it's no criticism to say dictionary definitions of certain words
sometimes don't (no, can't) capture the full power and
magic of
transformation.
The above dictionary definition of
"participation"
works.
It needs no revision. But there's one proviso - especially as it
pertains to health. Pertaining to health,
participation
defined as "when you take part or become involved in something" should
be emphasized as "when you really take part or
really become involved in something". Said another way
pertaining to health,
participation
could be defined as "when you wholeheartedly and unreservedly throw
yourself into something". When it comes to health, I'm
differentiating
"participating"
in something, from simply "going through the motions" of doing
something. Health as a function of
participation,
is wholeheartedly and unreservedly throwing yourself into something. If
you imply (through lack of proper emphasis) health is a function of
participation
like simply being there and going through the motions of doing
something, it's an ineffective expression of what health really is.
There are some things I do to maintain health, wellness, fitness, and
vitality. I exercise. My exercise regimen (which I mostly adhere to,
but now and again I don't) is I run five miles on an elliptical machine
at around seven and a half miles an hour on one day, interchanging with
swimming
forty five minutes (freestyle alternating with breaststroke) the next
day. I don't smoke. I'll have
a glass of red
wine
every once in a while (at the suggestion of my physician). My diet,
which includes lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, tends to be
vegetarian but isn't totally. I take vitamin supplements. I get enough
sleep.
I drink plenty of water.
All of the above certainly lay a solid foundation for health. But
here's the thing: my health is less a function of what I put into my
body, and more a function of what comes out of my
mouth. In other
words,
my health is more a function of what I speak and the
context
in which I speak it. What I'm suggesting is this: neither true health
nor sustained wellness nor physical fitness nor vibrant vitality are
functions of what I do to my body - as important a role as this may
play. True health, sustained wellness, physical fitness, and vibrant
vitality are functions of what I bring to bear on Life. Health,
wellness, fitness, and vitality are functions of
participating.
That's when
who I really am
comes to bear on my life. Indeed, that's when
who I really am
comes to bear on Life itself.
It's even more than that, actually. It's that when I'm
participating,
I'm expressing my own already health, wellness, fitness,
and vitality. I'm being responsible for expressing my
already health, wellness, fitness, and vitality. I'm not simply adding
something to (or taking something away from) my body in order to
produce health, wellness, fitness, and vitality. Although that's
essential, it isn't
who I really am.
It isn't evidence of me being independently and responsibly healthy,
well, fit, and vital and expressing health, wellness,
fitness, and vitality by coming forth for no reason ... by
... my ...
Self
... to
participate
wholeheartedly and unreservedly.
Exercising (running and
swimming),
not smoking, drinking
red wine
occasionally, eating enough fruits and vegetables, taking vitamins,
getting as much
sleep
as needed, and drinking plenty of water simply ensure
the machine
is well oiled and well maintained. That's smart. That's
very smart. If you and I don't take care of our bodies,
who will?
But true health isn't really a function of any of that. True health is
a function of bringing
who we really are
to bear on Life. We only do this secondarily with our bodies ie by
being responsible for keeping our bodies /
machines
well oiled and well maintained. Primarily we do this with our
word,
with our
language.
Primarily we do this by throwing ourselves wholeheartedly and
unreservedly into Life ie by
participating
in Life, which is to say by taking part or becoming involved in
something, particularly by becoming involved in something bigger
than ourselves.
This is the quality we see in healthy people. This is
health.