Your Health: It's Your Choice

Health, just like happiness, is a choice.  Not only the behaviors associated with acheiving the outcome of a healthy body, but also the pure essence of being healthy.  That's great news, because we get to make that choice every day!

There are so many parts of our day that we can't always control, but we can control what we choose when we have the option.  Sometimes, being healthy is as simple as just reaching out and choosing it!  Okay, it might not always be the most fun choice, but it is always there for us, secretly hoping we pick it to play on our team.

Think you don't have time to exercise with a job and kids and everything else?  That's a choice.  Thousands of people every day set their alarms early to get up and exercise before their busy day starts because they choose to be healthy.  You can do it, too. If you're tired, go to bed earlier. It's a choice.

Think you're sabotaged at work when everyone wants to go out for Chinese food at lunch?  That's a choice. I've brought my brown bag to many a restaurant to eat my healthy fare without missing out on the company of my friends because I choose to be healthy.  They return to work needing a nap. I feel incredible. It's a choice.

Think that birthday cake you'll be facing this weekend is just making it too hard to stick to a calorie budget?  Yep, that's a choice too!  Trust me, that cake will be long gone (and making someone else feel crummy) by the time you're enjoying the payoff of choosing health.  Nothing tastes as good as being healthy feels.

Every choice we make brings us closer to or further from our goals. I really don't think there is such a thing as standing still; in my eyes, inaction takes us away from progress.  Now, that's not to say that it's realistic to think that every choice we make will be the healthy one.  We are humans, after all.  But, it's important to remember that regardless of the outcome, we choose it.

As you go through your day, keep a mental tally of your choices.  Are you choosing to unhealthify some perfectly good-for-you food?  Are you choosing to make deliberate changes in your life?

It's a powerful tool, these choices. We can literally determine the course of our day (and tomorrows) just by choosing to be healthier than we were yesterday. Take hold of that power and weild it!

Get out there and be healthy!