What is your "why"?

People often come to me seeking ways to enhance their lives, particularly in the realm of health and wellness. In my daily consultations, I often ask them a crucial question:

“What’s your “why”?”

Why are you pursuing change? Is it driven by an internal desire for self-improvement or societal pressures to conform to certain ideals? Your "why" is a deeply personal matter, one that only you can answer.

However, I'd like to delve into my own "why" in the hope that it might inspire you to discover yours.

Why do I care so deeply about health, wellness, movement, nutrition, improving myself and others?

When I think about my life, it often becomes a deep thought that can easily be overwhelming. I was put on this earth to live, love, and learn. This body I was given is beautiful and miraculously special, as is yours. Our bodies are uniquely designed to move, survive, play, and adapt.

So, what is our responsibility to ourselves?

For me, it's simple: to keep growing, improving, learning, and sharing those experiences with others. We each have our unique journey through life, and if I can play a role, big or small, in your story, I want it to be positively impactful.

What greater impact is there than helping to cultivate a strong, healthy, and resilient body and mind to experience the world? This aspiration extends to my own journey. I want a strong, healthy, and resilient body and mind, so that my experience in this world can be that much better as God uses me and teaches me.

Now, how do I create a strong, healthy, and resilient body and mind you may ask? That answer becomes a bit more complicated, as there are many variables that play a part. And that list of variables is everchanging as I learn, grow, and adapt.

Some examples of those variables include:

• Loving others - selflessly

• Movement every single day – God designed us to move, sweat, get stronger, and to constantly progress.

• Eating minimally processed foods (limiting additives and ingredients we can’t pronounce)

• Meditation as often as possible – for me, this is prayer and the absence of any screens.

• Embracing mindfulness in our fast-paced world

• Cultivating gratitude in moments of joy and sorrow

• Big Picture Thinking – how does this play into the BIG PICTURE of my life. Is it significant? Can I view this or use this in a way to improve, get better, learn and/or grow?

• Embracing discomfort as a catalyst for change

• Faithfulness – That God has his hand in each day of my life, no matter how flawed I am, he loves me, he’s working on me, and he has plans for me –

• Empathy – people’s actions are a reflection of them, not you. Remember there are millions of untold stories in people’s lives every day. Have empathy for the broken hearted.

• Curiosity – It’s okay to seek more knowledge, want to know more – curiosity cultivates growth.

• Acceptance – you can accept people (including yourself) for where they are now. Practice meeting people (including yourself) where they are now. That’s what God does, he meets us your where we are, here and now. Go from there.

• Grace – we are all imperfect – we don’t do anything perfectly, practice giving grace firstly to yourself but, also to others. Seek improvement and progress.

In all of this, and more, sharing it with others so that they can love themselves as they are, as God loves us and yet still seek to improve, and progress.

I don't have one fixed "why"; mine is ever evolving. I'm not perfect, and I don't consistently embody all of these practices flawlessly. That's why my journey never ends. I encourage you to explore your own "why." If it isn’t hard, you’re not doing it correctly.

Be Well,

Rachel R Carson