It's a common concern I hear about. When Christians start delving into the world of more natural options regarding their health, they can run into a lot of confusing information. Some of the practices that seem like they could help are condemned as new age or occult.
When this happens, you need to take a careful look at what the practice is versus what people have made it to be.
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Do you want to improve your overall health in the new year but aren't sure how to go about it?
So many people set healthy New Year's resolutions like "eat healthier" or "exercise more." However, those aren't very effective goals because they're not measurable. Eat healthier than what? How much do you need to exercise to be "more"?
Let's look at some good goals that will actually inspire you toward better health.
Modern/western medicine has only been around for a relatively short period of time. Yes, it is all that most of us have known, but a hundred years is a tiny fraction of the span of human history.
How did people survive without the medicines we know today?
They used what the earth provided. Plants have incredible powers to keep us healthy and give our bodies what they need to heal.
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Grief, I think, is the most difficult circumstance of life to navigate.
It is a journey on which you are entirely alone. No one else feels exactly the way you do, so you don’t feel like there is anyone who truly understands, anyone you can really talk to about it.
Each relationship is unique, so each grief is unique, and that quote, “Where there is deep grief, there was great love” ... it’s true. Please remember that you are entitled to your grief, no matter what anyone else feels.
And if you are experiencing a loss that's less "accepted" – maybe a beloved pet or an unborn baby or biological family you never met but feel just as deeply as the loss of immediate family – you will probably feel even more alone because there are people who will think it’s not a big deal and others who will not even know you're grieving. Just remember the truth of your love; that is the only appropriate gauge by which to measure grief.
I once read a shockingly accurate illustration of grief. It was posted on Reddit by a person who goes by “GSnow” in response to a simple plea of “My friend just died. I don’t know what to do.” I share it here in hopes that it will help someone else the way it helped me.
“As for grief, you’ll find it comes in waves. When the ship is first wrecked, you’re drowning, with wreckage all around you. Everything floating around you reminds you of the beauty and the magnificence of the ship that was, and is no more. And all you can do is float.
“You find some piece of the wreckage and you hang on for a while. Maybe it’s some physical thing. Maybe it’s a happy memory or a photograph. Maybe it’s a person who is also floating. For a while, all you can do is float. Stay alive.
“In the beginning, the waves are 100 feet tall and crash over you without mercy. They come 10 seconds apart and don’t even give you time to catch your breath. All you can do is hang on and float.
“After a while, maybe weeks, maybe months, you’ll find the waves are still 100 feet tall, but they come further apart. When they come, they still crash all over you and wipe you out. But in between, you can breathe, you can function.
“You never know what’s going to trigger the grief. It might be a song, a picture, a street intersection, the smell of a cup of coffee. It can be just about anything … and the wave comes crashing.
“But in between waves, there is life.
“Somewhere down the line, and it’s different for everybody, you find that the waves are only 80 feet tall. Or 50 feet tall. And while they still come, they come further apart. You can see them coming. An anniversary, a birthday, or Christmas, or landing at O’Hare. You can see it coming, for the most part, and prepare yourself. And when it washes over you, you know that somehow you will, again, come out the other side. Soaking wet, sputtering, still hanging on to some tiny piece of the wreckage, but you’ll come out.
“Take it from an old guy. The waves never stop coming, and somehow you don’t really want them to. But you learn that you’ll survive them. And other waves will come. And you’ll survive them, too.”
How does this help? By knowing it's a wave. It will recede, and you'll have a chance to breathe again. Sometimes, it doesn't seem like you'll ever come out the other side of that wave. But you will. Trust that. Don't fight the waves, just ride them. Your feelings are valid. Concentrate on surviving one wave at a time. You can make it through.
If you feel like you’re drowning in your grief and have no one to help you float, please feel free to contact me. I am not a doctor or therapist, but I am a listening ear who has been through the waves, and I will not measure or shame your tears.
Written in honor of the greatest loss of my life – April 26, 2019.
First of all, you never need to wait for a new year to make changes in your life. Commit to starting with a new month, or a new week, or a new day. There is no inherent magic in a new year. You can change your life any time you choose! I want you to realize that!
That said, many people are planning to make big changes with the start of the new year. Sometimes, they don't know how to go about it, so that's what I'm doing here.
Health is a very common New Year's resolution, but many people fail to make specific and achievable goals or plans for how to achieve that health they desire.
How to Set Goals
Goals need to be specific. You can't just set a goal of "be healthier" and expect to achieve it. What is healthier? If you have just one more hour of health in 2023 than you did in 2022, that's "healthier," isn't it? But is that all you want?
Goals also need to be achievable. This is why a lot of weight loss goals fail. You can't necessarily control how much weight you lose. There are too many factors that go into that, including your metabolism, hormones, stress level, and more. A better goal would be to commit to a certain number of minutes of exercise each day or week or not eating after 8:00 p.m. or drinking a certain number of ounces of water each day.
All those items will contribute to weight loss, but you control them, whereas you don't control your weight. I know it's a fine line, but I hope that makes sense.
My 2023 Goal
My big goal for 2023 is to experience a new type of natural health contributor each month. I call it a health contributor because my list ranges from therapies like infrared sauna and reiki to nutrition changes like sourdough and raw dairy.
Basically, any new thing I haven’t tried yet that can contribute to my health can go on the list, and each month, I will choose one to experience.
Ideas for 2023 Goals
If you aren’t quite sure what to set for your goals, consider this list inspiration. Add your own measurements to the blanks, or feel free to take any of these ideas and tweak them to your own needs.
- Learn to make a new food from scratch each month of the year
- ___ minutes of fun sweaty activity each day/week
- Drink ___ ounces of water each day
- Identify one supplement you feel would help you and commit to taking it every day for 90 days
- Eat a raw fruit or veggie every day/every meal
- Spend 15 minutes in the sun at least three times a week
- Check in honestly with a trusted friend every week about your mental health
- Spend 3 hours a week with your Creator
- Choose one item of clutter to leave your home each day of the year
- Eliminate products containing fragrance/parfum or foods containing artificial colors
I’d love to hear your goals for the year!
Share them below, and let me know if there’s anything I can do to help you reach them!
