How healthy am I? (Repost)

Self discovery is not an easy task. There will come times when you have to face some harsh realities, make some changes to those realities and remain steadfast in those changes. And these things become requirements to maintain that balance of joy that we so desperately seek. Joy is that inner peace, that inner expression of delight and pleasure that remains, even when the outer expressions on our faces change. It is that knowing, that you know, that you know, that no matter what, I have this joy on the inside. As the old saying goes, this joy that I have, the world (circumstances) didn’t give it to me and the world can’t take it away. To have that kind of balance for yourself, you must have a balance between the three core areas of your being: spirit (heart), soul (mind and emotions) and body (physical health).


The spirit of a woman (man) is the heart. Not the physical heart, that pumps blood in our bodies, but the way in which we connect to God. The Bible says in 1 Peter 3, “But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.” It also tells us that God is a Spirit and those who worship must worship Him in our spirit (John 4:24). In order to do this, our spirits need to be healthy so that we will be able to hear what God is telling us. We’ll be able to hear, speak and act when He tells us to. This is the most important area of your life that will lead you on the right path of discovering yourself and get you to that life of purpose and passion.

The soul of a woman (man) is the mind and emotions. It is the intellect and feelings that encompass us as we go about our daily lives. It is the #1 reason that most of us make the decisions that we do. And those decisions lead to the actions that we take and those actions led to the realities that we now live. This is doing things on your own because you do them based on what you think and/or what you feel at the time. But we can change that. In fact, we must change that in order to live the kind of life that we so desire to live.

And, the third core area is our physical body. I know, I know. It is the one area that we really don’t want to think about. If we’re going to have that balance of joy, then we must include the fitness of our physical bodies. Exercise and healthy eating are requirements for being healthy. Did you know that a lot of physical ailments and diseases are a direct result of how we treat and what we feed our bodies? Yes indeed. Ah, the pleasures of chocolate cakes, southern fried chicken, macaroni & cheese, homemade biscuits. All sounds delicious, but wreak havoc on our bodies. We know that we need to exercise, but sitting in front of that TV just feels so much better. We need to be physically fit in order to live the lives that God has created us to live.

So, as we journey on this road of discovering who we really are and what we really want/need in our lives, lets give a weekly account of how we were able to balance the three core areas of our being: Spirit, Soul and Body. We’ll call them “Fitness Friday Reports”

My health report for this week.

To create balance that balance of joy in my life, I’ve made several changes. First, for a healthy spirit, I am spending more time connecting with God (having a conversation with Him at least 2x a day, read the Bible before I go bed and write letters to Him in a journal).

To create the balance for a healthier soul, I am also writing letters to ‘Self’. This way, I can express what I want to say to myself, be able to revisit those letters and constantly remind myself of the journey that we’re on and what we’re working to accomplish. I am learning to relax more within myself. The designation of Me-time Tuesday is another way for me to spend time with and rediscover myself. Tuesday evenings is precious time just for me. This past week, I went to see the movie Eat, Pray, Love, and realized that I needed to forgive myself. So I did it. A heavy weight was lifted from my shoulders and it felt great.

And to create balance in my physical body, I made changes to my eating habits. Being on this Fast for the month of August, has helped me with that in so many ways. Also, I went to the gym 2x this week and worked out at home with the Zumba DVD 2x.
Now it’s your turn. What are you doing to become healthier in your spirit, soul and body?


Sandstone: Copyright © 2010. Original post date Aug 20, 2010