A Healthy Attitude

“Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.” –Winston Churchill 

“Thoughts become things. Choose the good ones.” —Mike Dooley

In a holistic healing model, it is clearly understood that our mental and emotional outlooks are important components to our overall health and well-being. A healthy attitude is a critical component to the healing process. Health is essentially a state of mind. 

Being healthy does not imply endless smooth sailing or never having to deal with illness or stress. Rather, it implies that when such difficulties arise, we have the tools to cope with these inevitable issues. The big question is: When you experience such a problem, whether it be health-related or stress-related, where does your mind go? How have you programmed yourself to think? Our mental outlook not only helps determine how we feel, but it also affects our long-term prognosis. 

However, it is important to note that unrealistic expectations are a curse that sets us up for failure, which then becomes a source of unhappiness and suffering. Unless we make room for pitfalls, we will always be faced with impossibilities, Not doing so will lead to frustration and can rob you of the opportunity of a lifetime. The goal is great health, not perfection.

Ultimately, the first step to healing is to be kind to yourself. It is never too late to improve your health regardless of your current medical condition. Too often, the conversation in our heads is filled with negative thinking causing us to give up on our dreams. This negative thinking is what creates our attitude. It is as simple as having the glass half full or half empty. We have programmed ourselves to be one or the other. Once we recognize that it is up to us to choose how we look at the world, then we can follow how we pattern our thoughts. 

Whether you want to improve your posture, lose weight, reverse your heart disease, or any other personal goal, a healthy attitude is the first step to get you there. There will be bumps in the road, and you may deviate from your goals in one way for another. The reason or this is simply that you are a human being. We are imperfect and sometimes inconsistent. My hope is you will leave a lot of room for compassion—particularly for yourself.