As a word addict - reader and writer - I know that often it is our habits that drive our choices. But it is not only the things we choose to do, such as writing every day but also the things we have to do - like brushing our teeth. Personal care and wellbeing should be at the top of our daily habits, and yet they are often the things we neglect. Not the cleaning habits I think so much as the activities that require an effort from ourselves. Exercise? Meditation? Preparing healthy food? I wonder why that is.
I write every day. I meditate five to six times a week. Since adopting a vegetarian diet, I am more aware of what I eat. I also have to cook at home more than I did before the lifestyle change, purely because the convenience of takeaway food is focused on people who eat meat. I am not a health nut, but it is my awareness of my longterm health that influences my choices now.
If we live healthier (mentally and physically) we are probably going to live longer and be more successful, so why the neglect? Is it pure laziness, or have we just become so disposable in our thinking as we have in the way we treat the things we own? New phone every two years, a new car every three to five years, new wardrobe every six months.
The list goes on, and I would love to hear your opinion: the general population don't want to die (we are going to, but that does not negate our fear of it) and yet we do nothing to enable us to live a better quality life until we leave this life. So why does the human species manufacture its own demise, one body at a time?
Interesting post and I think you're asking important questions. While I imagine it differs for everyone, I certainly believe the level of stress many people are chronically dealing with, along with the both the level of distractions available and ever-increasing pace of things helps create a sense of overwhelm and inability to cope. But you're right of course that we're responsible for our choices, and it's in our best interests to choose what allows us to thrive.
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