Why not let go of the anxiety of 'I have to do this for my health'? How to find a way to stay healthy that suits you without being swayed by information

For the sake of your health,

'I have to exercise at least a little every day'
'I really should be doing strength training too'
'I need to improve my diet...'
'I wonder if I should be waking up early after all'

In ways like that,

'I have to do this, but I'm not doing it...'

don't you ever feel a sense of impatience?

There is truly so much health information out there right now, isn't there?

Whether you go to a bookstore or look at social media,

'This is good for your body'
'You should stop doing this'

Such information is overflowing.

But, because you feel so much impatience and anxiety about your health,

'I have to do that too'
'I have to be careful about this too'
'Am I not allowed to eat this?'

you might find yourselfbeing swayed by
the sheer volume of that information,don't you think?

It's for your health, yet it becomes painful

I used to be someone who,

would decide on a health habit and think,
'I have to keep this up properly'

but end up quitting after three days,
(well, maybe three months, I suppose)
repeating the cycle of trying and failing to continue.

When it becomes an obligation,
it's not fun at all, and in the end, you can't keep it up.

'I wonder if this is really right for me'

I would sometimes blame myself for not being able to continue,
wondering if quitting because I thought that
was just making excuses.

But then one day,

'Maybe it's better to organize my life itself first, rather than adding more health methods'

That is what I thought.

So, I decided to stop overthinking for a bit,
re-evaluate my lifestyle habits, and started tidying up my house.

Then,

I found a piece of health equipment (a stepper) for stepping in place at home that I had bought after seeing it at an elderly person's house a while ago and thinking,
'That looks nice.'

'If I can naturally integrate this into my current daily life,
I might be able to build muscle through short, repeated sessions' I thought.

With that in mind,

I took the health stepper I had tucked away
and placed it between my home office and the living room.

And then,

'I have to make time to exercise'

instead of that,

'I'll just get a little exercise while I'm moving around!'

I became able to do strength training with that kind of lighthearted attitude.

From such small adjustments,

'I can keep this up'
'Things I tried in the past can fit into my current life'
'Are there other health habits I can do in a little bit of time?'

In that way, I became able to view health in a positive light.

'Suits me' over 'This is the right way'

It is fine to feel the effects by adopting health methods
that are said to be 'good' in the world just as they are.

It is also fine to carefully select or arrange them
while feeling whether they suit your current life, daily rhythm,
values, and constitution.

As a way of engaging with health in the latter half of life,
choosing what 'suits you' might be what is important.

Listening to the information from within yourself is what lasts the longest, isn't it?

Actually, recently,
I walked about 4km through the fresh green city
with a friend of the same generation I hadn't seen in two years.

We stopped to look at the cityscape,
and shared our 'now' and our 'future' with each other.

We walked to a shrine that I would usually take a bus to,
checked out delicious-looking shops along the way,
and after visiting the shrine, we had lunch at one of those shops...

It may sound like just a casual moment in everyday life, but
for us,
that time was truly happy, rich, and enjoyable.

“I want to spend time like this again.”

To make that happen, I want to stay healthy!

When asked, “Can you walk?”
“Yes, I can.”

When asked, “Can you eat?”
“Yes, I’d love to!”

I want to be the kind of person who can answer immediately.

We both felt that way.

Health is
not something that should make you suffer by trying too hard
while being swayed by the vast amount of information out there,

but rather the foundation
for living your life in your own way from now on.

Finding what suits you
while enjoying the process of trial and error.

In an era overflowing with so much information,
it’s wonderful to find something you feel you can continue and want to continue.

Do you currently have

a health practice

that you feel suits you?

Next article preview

Next time,

I would like to write about the concept of 'future peace of mind,' which can help ease health anxieties a little.

I hope you look forward to it.

Related tags

#Health
#SecondHalfOfLife
#LifestyleHabits
#FuturePeaceOfMind
#LivingAuthentically

Finally

I have written a book that is neither about end-of-life planning, retirement preparation, nor self-improvement.

↑ Click here to receive the e-book PDF version (free) ↑

Thank you for reading until the end.
I would be happy if we could continue to connect through likes, comments, and follows.
I look forward to staying connected with you.

Second Life Concierge
Harumi Takeuchi