C3 Wellness

“What does wellness mean to you?” my friend Ray asked me.

I have known him since we were about 16 and we became fast friends.  But we became even faster workout buddies because he would literally knock on my door and wait for me to change so that I would go to the gym with him.  Talk about motivation. Back then, if I could fit into my size 28 jeans, whether it was through starvation, fad diets, smoking or exercising, I felt that I had been practicing wellness.  I know it was a superficial motivation to exercise, but a separate little seed of endorphin had been planted in me.  And without realizing it at the time, it made me happy. 
 
Fast forward fifteen years and two children later.  After giving birth to my daughter, I just couldn’t shed the last of my baby fat because of a herniated disk.  I couldn’t be active.  I didn’t think about what I was eating.  I was not sleeping well.  Sounds like most parents with small children, right?  I was just hiding behind my children.  Literally, I hid behind them because I was embarrassed about my body.  Figuratively, I hid behind them as my excuse for not taking better care of myself.  Most of all, I was frustrated because I couldn’t fit into my size 28 jeans!

This is when I shot Ray an email telling him that I just couldn't seem to lose that last 10 pounds.  He writes back with a general eating schedule, body measurement chart and a plan teaching me how to run.  Run?! Really?! Did he not know me at all?! I would never run…unless it was to chase after food or run from danger for survival.  
 
I have little kids. 
I have no time.
I am not in good enough shape to run.

These were my excuses why I could not do it. 
 
Then in one moment, I just asked myself “Why not?” 
 
Two minutes at a time, I started to jog with my daughter in a stroller.  Fifteen minutes at a time, I started to jog with my son riding behind me in a tricycle.  An hour and a half, I jogged from my daughter’s ballet school to my house and back while she was in her lessons
   
That “why not?” moment is the beginning of wellness.  The moment you decide IN YOUR HEAD to do something, your mind decides which battles your body will fight and your mind will provide the courage and strength to win that battle. 

Wellness becomes much more because it goes full cycle and also needs to end IN YOUR HEAD.  No matter what size or shape your body is, no matter how many kilometres you can run, no matter how many push ups you can hammer out in one minute, your mind needs to feel good about it and from it.  Your mind needs to feel good from the foods you put in your body to nourish it.  Your mind needs to feel good about being in your skin.  Your mind needs to find a balance in your life spiritually, emotionally and physically so that it can cope with the stress that bombards you every day. 

Now 20 years later, I am still imitating my friend Ray in going to the gym or trying to eat lean chicken or running a Spartan race with my children.  That endorphin seed has blossomed into a full blown addiction, making me want to try anything that crosses my path: running, floor hockey, crossfit, pole dancing, boxing….and I finally fit into my size 28 jeans. 

But beyond that, it also means that I am happy with my body in spite of the fact that my stretch marks have given birth to two children.  It means that I am happy to look to my friends for emotional support in spite of the fact that I could technically solve all my problems myself.  It means that I am grateful and awestruck by the magnificent trees and lakes and mountains surrounding my hike in spite of the fact that I could thankfully pray to God about them in a church.  It means I am living in wellness because I decided to