The value of our health

The current COVID-19 pandemic creates strong awareness about the fragility of the health of our world economy. However, does it remind us enough about the value of our own health?

In this article we will discuss how to regain our focus, so we are able to see what truly matters every single day.

---

Being in the middle of the corona pandemic, the situation has shed some light on the fact that even younger people are at risk of getting seriously sick even if being outwardly healthy. To tackle this, the world governments keep emphasizing the safety measures to protect the public from a large number of infections and try to keep (almost) everybody in our society healthy and functioning. Moreover, currently many businesses have closed their operations for the reason of protecting their work staff, and likewise, many people decreased their consumer needs and the overall demand for products and services has decreased. The economy is challenged for sure. However, are we challenged enough through this pandemic to fully appreciate the value our health?

One could assume that many of us have been thinking about the importance of health these past months almost every day.
Especially now, we might be more prone to experience heightened levels of stress, and in many cases, the constant tension and uncertainty about the whole situation can make us question: “When is my turn to get sick? Maybe it is all just matter of time?”.

In my case, as I was trying to swim through these waves of stress and uncertainty, some parts of my body started to reflect my thoughts, and either it was shown by random migraines, headaches, leg or even finger aches…yes finger aches. These moments reminded me how precious were the moments when I could just feel – nothing – simply a peace in my mind and my body.

Appreciation of the value of health goes beyond being grateful for being healthy at a certain moment. It is about our daily attitude towards life so we can always focus on what matters for our own well-being and make the every-day decisions accordingly.

Once we are hit by a sickness, pain or other physical discomfort, it changes our perspective on the world and we might become consumed by the uncomfortable sensations, wishing they would cease as fast as possible. We turn back and realize how great we felt in the past and how the things that were bothering us now, indeed, seem trivial.

Nevertheless, it does not have to be this way that we only appreciate our health when we are struggling. We can keep this attitude on a daily basis by being mindful about what we are choosing to do. In the next paragraph, I will give you one example of the smallest step ever that you can take to appreciate the value of your health:

I AM STRESSED AT WORK / TOO BUSY TO EAT MY LUNCH

This is so commonly seen in the offices, especially during the rushy Mondays. Employees push they keyboard away and they put their lunch plate or bowl in front of them. As they are trying to eat they and also typing with one hand and trying to pick up a phone. I urge you to stop for a while and understand if you are doing at least one thing properly. Notice yourself and see that you are not chewing properly, you are not taking a good moment to appreciate your meal and notice that by multitasking, (in this case), you are not gaining any major benefit of finishing the task at that very moment. Eat your meal in peace and come back working with a clear mind. Of course, sometimes tight deadlines happen, hence the rushed eating while working comes in handy to finish the tasks on time, although, the majority of the times we are just prioritizing other than the SELF. Just think about for a minute and slow down, cherish you lunch and appreciate the value of your health.

OTHER EXAMPLES

It is difficult to give you more examples on this topic because of course, everyone is in a different situation. What I would like to add though is, and let me tell you, this is not easy to do (even for me), when you appear to be in a stressful situation, something upsets you, makes you angry, sad, tensed…anything, appreciate that you can go through it. Be grateful that you are alive, healthy and you have (almost) no pain. If you happen to have a headache or other physical discomfort caused by a mental discomfort, then you know you went over the line and you are not giving the priority to your health. This indeed sounds too simple but the awareness alone can be curative. It is very important to appreciate our own well-being and be selfish in this. In the end, the health is the most important thing we have to fully experience the world and people around us.