As I have written before, I am on a quest this summer. I am focusing on my health, but what I am learning, health is more than physical health. It is more than making sure I get my six servings of fruits and vegetables, all my grains, all my proteins, all my dairy products or whatever the new order of daily dietary guidelines are these days. My health is more than making sure I get at least four days of cardio in a week, or making sure I am building muscle along with cardio… and yada yada yada.
I just got finished doing an interval workout. I call it my gray hour. I’m 64, if I don’t enjoy my exercise program I’m not going to do it. I am not going to run sprints or get my mile under 30 minutes. Let’s get realistic about this whole physical health thing. I did kettle bell swings with a 5 lb kettle bell. Yeah, yeah it is light weight for some of you, but for me… Hey I’m moving and that’s what counts. A body in motion stays in motion. I had an instructor tell me, “Now engage your core as you swing upward.” Dude seriously I’m doing good just bending my knees and getting this bell upward to shoulder height. Do not tell me to do too many things at once.
Now back to my point. Health isn’t just physical health. Health is wellness. Health is shalom, complete or whole. Shalom does mean peace, but peace is more than the absence of conflict. Shalom is the presence of wholeness. Whole health engages more than my core. Good health, whole health engages body, soul, mind, and spirit. That is whole wellness, and I am the sum of all these parts. I don’t achieve whole health by just focusing on my physical body. It is peace and wholeness running through my mind, my thoughts, my soul, my heart, and my spirit.
Whole health comes from being with the Prince of Peace, Prince of Shalom, King Jesus. It happens when God rewires my thoughts. I must align my heart to know God’s goodness, and more often than not I need to check my attitude at the door. My attitude sets the whole climate of my day. My attitude must know shalom, wholeness and peace. I have discovered I have a tendency to have conflict in my attitude. Attitude colors everything in my everyday world, and attitude is a choice. My family and those around me definitely know when I have a stinky attitude. It’s the difference between a happy heart or a dumpy attitude.
“A happy heart makes the face cheerful, but heartache crushes the spirit. The discerning heart seeks knowledge, but the mouth of a fool feeds on folly. All the days of the oppressed are wretched, but the cheerful heart has a continual feast.”
Proverbs 15:13-15 NIV
“A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.”
Proverbs 17:22 NIV
How true is the word of God, and these verse take me back to working out. If I have a bad negative attitude toward exercise, trust me, there is no way I’m going to get on a treadmill, or rowing machine or any other contraption that has been invented to get these dried up bones a moving.
And again, a cheerful heart, an authentic deep down for real cheerful heart, doesn’t come from just having a good day and being happy because of a good day. A tried and true cheerful heart comes from being with the Creator of happiness and cheerfulness. King Jesus, Prince of Peace and wholeness. A cheerful heart is not only surviving but thriving in the midst of a chaotic conflict driven world. Jesus is the building block of my shalom, my wholeness, and He taught that shalom is possible in the midst of hard times. Ever heard of the Beatitudes.
Jesus taught:
“When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain and sat down. His disciples came to Him, and He began to teach them, saying: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.”
Matthew 5:1-5 BSB