I always think about health a lot this time of year. I was diagnosed with Hodgkins Disease on New Years Eve almost 40 years ago and I always have my annual physical and related doctors appointments starting in January. It's an "anxiety producing" time of year for me. Having cancer at the age of 23 definitely destroys your sense of wellness and I don't think it's something you ever can really get back. I know I never have. I've wasted a lot of energy worrying about my health and sometimes I've needed help to deal with my fears. But I have been thinking lately that as a society we are obsessed with health and I am trying to ease up on all this emphasis on the right foods, the latest vitamins and supplements, the best exercise program etc. and think more about ways to give meaning to my life. Health matters, obviously, but it's how we live our lives that really matters and health doesn't define us.
I have been reading this book "Something to live for" by Richard Leider and he says that "having something to live for, beyond our own self-absorption is associated not only with better health, but also with greater longevity." And maybe being too fanatical about fitness and health is a form of self absorption. I need to think more about this...
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