What is Your Why for Healthy Living?
When I first began writing this article the words poured from me. I could go on for a while about why healthy living is important to me. This article could easily end up being a couple of thousand words long. I have many ‘whys’ for healthy living. I choose a healthy lifestyle because
- I want to enjoy life with my family
- I want to set a good example for my boys
- I want to be a great-grandmother someday
- I want to pursue creativity and be productive
- I want to feel at ease in my body and free of discomfort or disease
- I want to treat my body as it was intended to be treated
I could spend time going into detail about each of these aspects of why I choose a healthy lifestyle, but at the heart of all of my reasons are my boys. My boys are why. More than anything else I want to do, I want to teach them how to be healthy so that they can live a life full of the benefits of healthy living. Precious moments such as the one in the picture above when I caught my boys spontaneously playing in the leaves last fall are memories I don’t want to forget. I know that keeping my brain and heart health are vital to being able to someday see my boys’ children sharing the same sweet moments. Teaching my boys how to live a healthy life means that they’ll be able to share heart-warming moments with their own grandchildren someday. It’s never too early to think about the future and that future looks so much brighter when it’s paired with healthy living.
Moms Can Make Our World a Healthier Place
Who is the primary decision maker in your household when it comes to food choices, family activities and how you will teach your children to be healthy? While individual families differ, of course, in most households, it’s mom who plans meals, grocery shops and cooks. It’s mom who suggests or encourages activities that promote health and wellness. We have so much power as moms to make the world a healthier place. As broad and daunting as that sounds, the truth is that we need only start with our family. It’s as simple as bringing real food into our homes instead of highly processed, sugar-filled, sodium-laden food-like products. It’s as easy as taking a walk with our children or going for a bike ride. It’s as relaxing as practicing mindfulness activities such as doing yoga, keeping a gratitude journal or engaging in other stress-reducing activities. Our children are depending on us to show them how to live a healthy life.
