Life Between Six-Pack and Six Months To Live

It’s been an interesting thing to witness – somewhere between the 6 months to live my doctor anointed me and the six-pack my body is incapable of developing without the cooperation of plastic surgeons and intense workouts that will actually negatively impact my body – I’ve been living a healthy, happy life.
 
No disease or insecurity plagues me about my body. Am I perfect? No. Am I invincible? Of course I’m not. But what I am is confident – that I’m living as the best version of myself. I’m comfortable in a lifestyle that need not change very dramatically if any illness were to hit and it is done so routinely that my body and my mind are in tune with my surroundings. This isn’t me just talking the talk, I’ve walked the walk. Over the past 10 years as a patient, caregiver, terminal patient, survivor, healer and now author and coach, I’ve ensured that I live what I preach. It took some time for me to find that mental space and physical place but I have, and I’m thankful to have reached my homeostasis.
 
Most people strive for excellence. One is the perceived physical perfection – we must appear a certain way and that our self-worth comes from our skin complexion, our shape, how defined and toned our muscles are, how we look when naked and when clothed. These are laborious efforts that require a level of focus and discipline but the ultimate goal isn’t towards good health but rather towards a perceived good physique/look.
 
The other form of excellence is the quality of life, which more often than not actually is replaced with quantity of life. Diets and medications may be prescribed to improve quality but the underlying assumption is that with that improved quality, there will be an increase in quantity too. But if there is one certain thing in life that we should know, but sadly often don’t realize until it is too late is that nothing is certain. There is no such thing as a guaranteed increase in quantity. And even if there is, it doesn’t assure quality of life.
 
So somewhere between focusing on how we appear and trying to become immortal is where life exists and that is actually what we should define as real living. This is important because here the focus isn’t on excelling but rather at being content. And in contentment, there is balance, there is security and there is also acceptance.
 
We complicate our health and wellness struggles because despite the fact we wish to live forever, we want our challenges to go away without any time or effort on our part. We want immediate results. That sense of urgency takes away any goodwill we actually put forward towards healing and it ends up adding stress to our bodies and minds again.
 
In my years of working with patients whether they were end of life terminal cancer patients or wellness seekers trying to ward off any potential threat of a disease, the greatest success stories have always been the ones where the results were unexpected but not surprising. Expecting miracles is not part of any treatment. It’s a welcome side effect of our efforts and enjoying living each moment the best we can.
 
But living each moment requires work. It may be handed to us but we need to make choices and take decisions that are smart, make sense for our bodies and require some level of discipline to create and enforce into a routine.
 
When we aren’t trying to achieve something, we actually become more in sync with our bodies. We learn to listen to it, we learn what heals it and we also become far more capable of finding natural solutions to our ailments and issues. It is in this zone that we also let others be guides for us. We are likely to better to understand what is being shared and we are also able to tap into our own inner curiosity, doing research before taking a decisive step. As a result, we adapt rather just follow and it permits us to take a more active role in our life and living.
 
Living is an active state and it’s important to be aware that it requires fuel from within. For me, living means a harmonious synchronicity between my lifestyle, nature and how/who I choose to include in my life. This nourishment should be enough to fill me up and if everything is properly aligned, then I can be confident that my health will be in a happy state. This is vital because we know how relevant a factor mental health and our mental state is towards combatting any illness, handling any stress or simply managing our day-to-day life.
 
When our focus is towards an aspiration and not towards the moment, we forget the greater picture. Life and living are not excuses to do as we please but it does permit us to call the shots as far as what we are willing to do and not do when we have the max options available. At any moment, that can be taken away and rather than struggle to make sense of it all at that moment, why not live a life that knows how to tackle anything, good or bad with aplomb.
​
I proved that a six-month prognosis as unrealistic as the six-pack. It’s time we stopped counting our achievements and started counting our blessings. The blessings we are much more likely to achieve and believe when we are living, by our merits, a happy healthy life.