A Guide to Health

In everyday human life, we all experience health as a driving force in the decisions we make regarding our overall wellness and conditions universally. Health as we know it to be, is such a complex concept that there is so many different perspectives on what exactly constitutes as simply being “healthy”. As such, everyone has their own beliefs and views as to what living a fulfilling life style entails to be in a state one is truly satisfied with. Due to this, I myself am no exception in what I perceive as my own interpretations of being healthy and how I experience it within my daily life. The choices I voluntarily make are ones that impact how I feel in my awareness of being robust, and how those factors define my outlook of what health is. Every second of simply being alive in a way is almost a tribute to one’s health. How we feel physically throughout the day, mentally from stress, and even emotionally from social interaction are all aspects of our health. One way these ideals came to prominence is from a quote the World Health Organization (WHO) used to define health in 1948, which follows as “Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”. I find myself agreeing very strongly with the WHO because we experience health solely on these three major influences of physical, mental and social. The outermost part of the human body comprises of the nervous system and how we react to different stimuli. To many people physical attributes are considered an inferior part of health in comparison to mental; however the sensations experienced from it are how we feel major determinants such as pain that influence our overall mood and perception of life. Any activity simply done by using our bodies is physical, and as such we affect this form of health by our choices of whether to exercise or not, maintain balance or even by putting strain on the body. We also experience health from a mental perspective which many people arguably say is the most important component of all. The mind is what naturally makes a person him or herself, and any alteration or absence of it could greatly change a life. All humans experience mental health more than any other health because every conscious second we have makes use of it and how it corresponds to the other aspects of health. Lastly we experience health as well through a social or emotional proportion. Social health can be a double edged sword because statistically speaking people that interact and have support from others are more likely to be resistant to illness and overall more healthy from the influences peers. However, the choices we make as to who we choose to surround ourselves with can have negative effects, as well as leads to high stress and emotional outbursts which in some cases can allow some diseases to develop. Due to this, we experience health based upon our actions and decisions in everyday life that will amount overtime to our current state of health and how it will continue to grow in the future to come.
Health is greatly affected by the choices we all make in how we all wish to live our lives in a way that provides satisfaction and pleasure. However, what is it that determines how we make these choices? Well because health is such a diverse and immense topic, there really is not an answer or rather a correct one because health is entirely personal. Everyone has their own interpretations and reasons to justify their actions and decisions in regards to how much they exercise, how much and what they eat, hygiene, maintain required sleep and other activities and so on. There are many different reasons why people do the things they do, and one of the most notably characteristics is one an individual has no control over; genetics. The genes a person inherits is from their family’s history and dominant traits that persist. Whether good or bad, genetics to a degree play a major role in how a person thinks and how they are susceptible to not only certain diseases and illnesses but also personality types and attitudes. For instance, in many scientific studies there are experiments that support the fact of alcoholism being dominant in an offspring if the parent is shown to have a history with it, and results have shown a positive correlation so far. However as health is a very complex topic, there are also other factors to consider such as one’s environment. The places we all grew up, the people we meet, and so on also play a role in who we become as people and how we think the way we do. Childhood is often considered the most crucial time of development for humans, and as such we can be greatly affected by it. Our housing environments and surroundings raise the question of are our physical, mental, social and security needs met as a child? We receive influence from how we are brought up from our families and our peers as well as the media as everyone offers different ideals and perspectives on any issue in life. Depending on the reality and influences we experience in our life time affect how we process information and decide how to interpret it. The people we become from our development and experiences as a child are how we evaluate and have our beliefs on matters such as health. Just as anyone else I am no exception to this principle and have my own background in health throughout my life. In my own personal opinion I agree strongly agree with many people that the most important aspect of health is mental. I feel that it is what drives us to have motivation and compassion to pursue what one desires whether it is good health or something else. With a strong and clear mind even people that are physically disabled inspire so many others by their determination to overcome their weakness and inability. Even without being physically healthy, as long as one has their mind they can still be happy and satisfied in their life which to some people is considered healthy since everyone has their own definition. Because of this I also think health cannot be measured on a scale or specifically to determine what is essentially “healthy”. Many reliable institutions such as the government put forth their ideals in what being healthy is, such as the Canadian food guide. However not every person eats the required amounts of servings listed in the Canadian food guide. And does that make them unhealthy? I do not believe so because as I have stated earlier health is a personal and very complex topic as there is no correct answer entirely. However I think that with regards to guides on health as the Canadian good guide and Body Mass Index (BMI) should rather be used as references or scales for one to model their life after. No one needs to follow these guides exactly, but should incorporate the knowledge they give into their lifestyle as way to improve health and keep it within a reasonable standard of being healthy as long as some of the criteria to a degree is met. I myself use this as my own interpretation of these public forms of information to better my health, however it is up to me use my own judgement and decide what I feel is correct. As I and many others may not have a lifestyle that is exactly aligned with these paradigms, and that is perfectly alright. At times we usually want to be like everyone else or follow the standard, but occasionally you need to stick your head out the clouds and form your own opinions with the information given. Health is no exception as a concept we design and personalize ourselves to fit our own perceptions of what a healthy lifestyle involves. The components of physical, mental and social as well as the factors that influence are all tools we use to create our own definition of health and we apply it to our everyday lives. Being healthy to some may simply include just being and feeling happy with one’s self by having pride and inspiration to continue or change their options to improve and encourage health habits.