You do have one don’t you? At the very least you have good intentions right? Well, not to be a drag, a pill, or a party-pooper, but if you want to enjoy the privilege of good health, you got to plan on it.
In Daniel Pink’s book called A Whole New Mind–excellent read by the way on how the world has changed from left brain thinking to a right brain driven, whole brained approach–there is a chapter on design. What I read got me thinking about how we design our lives–or leave the design to habit, chance, others. Pink quotes the renown architect Frank Nuovo as saying “Design in its simplest form is the activity of creating solutions, Design is something that everyone does every day.”
True enough. We design schedules to get in all of the most important “to dos” like work, shopping for food, personal hygiene, time with family etc. If we are following some sort of plan for our lives the design should support us getting where we want to go.
In the case of living young into an old age–I’m hoping we share that goal–without designing or including some specific lifestyle habits known to increase the chances of doing that, we leave ourselves open to a mess. Think lime green walls, orange shag carpet, deco lamps and marble top tables. I’m feeling a little sick right now, you?
Even the most outrageous interior design contrarians among you would be rearranging in no time. Liken this room to aging with no plans, no design in mind for the rooms you want to inhabit.
Sure you know the food and exercise regs, you’ve heard me and others drone on about knowing your numbers, getting your annual physical done–by a doctor you can talk to please–getting a good night’s sleep etc. So, are you? When was the last time you had your fasting blood sugar levels checked? When you get your blood work done and the doc says, “Everything is fine” but you wake up tired each day, toss and turn at night, can’t lose weight, and don’t have a bm every day, are you fine?
My answer is, “No.” You might reply that “it’s normal for me.” Guess what, none of those symptoms are things you should live with. They are not normal, they mean something is out of whack and more than likely within your control.
The sooner a problem is discovered the better off you are in terms of getting over it.
You’ll need a physician you can talk to who specializes in working with the whole body. You must educate yourself about how good it’s possible to feel, not what’s “normal.”
In order to confidently design a plan that will keep you upright, intact, able to put words together to form sentences, you’ve got to know where you are right now and that requires getting the facts that only testing can give you. “Test don’t guess” says famed nutritionist to the stars, JJ Virgin and I agree.
Then you can create a bold design of a healthy life. You can add outrageous activities, splashes of decadent delicious culinary treats, and enjoy the living rooms of your creation. Until you’re sure your foundation is firm, confidence feels risky and live is random movement towards a blurry end point.
Get help for direction, accountability, and support. Another of the designers that Daniel Pink mentioned is Paola Antonelli. To paraphrase her, “Design is giving the world something it didn’t know it was missing.” Can you design a healthy life and give yourself a few things–wonderful things–you didn’t know you were missing?
