Health is not just limited to the physical status of an individual and the mere absence of disease and infirmity doesn’t really mean anything. The spectrum of health is vast and encompasses spiritual and emotional wellbeing under its umbrella. To live, think and express health, we must learn to become mindful.

Competition, comparison and self-centeredness are some of the words that describes today’s "stimulus-response society". Sometimes, due to our obligations, social expectations and conditioning, we fail to live the moment, appreciate what is given and be grateful.  “Living 24 hours with mindfulness and awareness is more precious than living 100 years without it.” 

Learn to Accept 

In any forms of relationships, it’s common to develop feelings of hatred and uneasiness towards someone. Personally, I feel that having a few "real"’ friends are better than having many "friends" or "acquaintances" – for one reason; I just can’t stand some people. Having negative feelings towards someone seemed to just hurt me in the long run. But I soon realised that judging people was MY problem, a PERSONALITY FLAW that limited my ability to be mindful and express emotional well-being. 

Below is a powerful excerpt from the book “Awareness” by Anthony De Mello; unveiling our selfishness in demanding someone else to change and live their life as you see fit:

“Imagine a patient who goes to a doctor and tells him what he is suffering from. The doctor says ‘Very well, I’ve understood your symptoms. Do you know what I will do? I will prescribe a medicine for your neighbour!’ The patient replies, ‘Thank you very much, Doctor that makes me feel much better.’ Isn’t that absurd? But that’s what we all do. The person who is asleep always think he will feel better if somebody else changes. You’re suffering because you’re asleep, but you’re thinking, ‘How wonderful life would be if somebody else would change. How wonderful life would be if my neighbour changed, my wife changed, my boss changed.’ 

Learn to Embrace

Learn to accept your reality and the world, your debts, your relationship problems and the ever-nagging boss of yours. The original Stoics tells us: “let go of your beliefs and expectations of how things must be. Ground yourself thoroughly in reality, then select carefully what you would like to change about the others, the world, or yourself. In order to change things, you must first embrace them as they are”  

Being mindful, aware and learning to accept things as they are is an art. Just like going to the gym and eating a healthy diet to optimise your physical health; meditating and learning to become more mindful is an effort to strengthen your emotional health. Remember, true health is only expressed when all of physical, emotional and spiritual aspects of health are fulfilled.