So what does being healthy mean anyway?

According to the WHO, Health is defined as follows:  "Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity" Reference 
That seems to be about as good a place to start as any.  A little bit on the vague side, and not without its weaknesses but still a great definition, one that has been around for a while too.  It is also quite powerful because it encompasses so much with so few words.  It really is all there.  
My next step was to try and see if I could illustrate those words with pictures.  So I did a search using "health" and these are some of the images I got back:

I can see that the main themes of the WHO definition are present as expected.  However, it seems to me the message is starting to be warped a little bit.  I see a lot about food, and good habits, exercise, and more food.  Where's the rest of it?  
Of course the food aspect of Health is important, and I'll be the first one to admit that it is a focus, but certainly not the only one.  Since I started my journey, I spent quite a bit of time considering the subject.  To be truly Healthy means reaching into every aspects of our lives, not just the easy ones.  You can exercise all you want but if you don't change your diet it isn't healthy.  You can exercise and eat well but if your stress level is through the roof, it isn't healthy.  It is all connected.  I've made a lot of changes in my life that have contributed to my overall increase in Health, and I recognize that I am very fortunate in that our situation has allowed it to happen.  Leaving the Big Company was not an easy feat to accomplish, and compromises were made [and still are] as a result, but it needed to happen.  My stress levels were just out of hand, I just wasn't happy at work.  It permeated throughout everything, and threatened to ruin it all.  There are some things are certainly more difficult to change than others, but by no means are those things impossible to achieve.  I'm a big believer in plans.  As a household [and a couple], that's how we've functioned best.  Slowly but surely we've been able to tackle bigger and bigger issues and start getting somewhere.  
I'm not there yet, and I'm not entirely sure I ever will be [or want to be, after all isn't the fun in the journey?], but my road to Good Health is well underway.  
The world is a mad place and it wants to take it all, it's up to you which side of the car you want to sit in, driver or passenger...
Until next time,

Oliver P.