Opinion: On Health

I have a debilitating issue. One that affects me daily, from morning until that period where people usually sleep for 8 hours. Affecting everything I do, from breathing to watching TV. I am a spectacular chronic over-thinker; I can’t turn off my brain. So to help myself with this, I began meditating daily(ish) about half a year ago. It helped a lot, to the point where I’ve managed to get more work done and feel happier in general. Okay, great. Cured! Next? “Well, actually no you’re not, also you need to worry about these other 37 things”. Oh for fuck sake, I thought you were gone. “No mate. Also, do you know what’s scary? Death. You should try to think about that when you attempt to sleep next.” Thanks brain. You’re the best.

I am on the quest for self-improvement at all times. Like an anime character training to defeat the next weird looking alien. I import bio-hacking advice from experimental obsessives like Tim Ferris. Nutrition/diet optimisation from Dr. David Sinclair or Dr. D’Agostino. Mindfulness from the GOAT Sam Harris. But constant pressured thinking about being optimal maaaybe isn’t actually healthy? The more I focus on one thing, the more I debilitate something else. It made me wonder, why do we focus on one element of health and ignore others?

I know many intelligent and knowledgeable people who exercise but don’t eat well. People who are savvy with their greens but are unhappy day to day. People who know the ins and outs of mental health but ignore their bodies (and in turn, its effects on the mind). It seems that most people (including myself) pick some elements of ‘health’ and ignore the rest.

I expect it goes further than this too. We know the positive effects of weight lifting beyond muscle growth. But countless people go too far and are putting pressure on their heart and joints in the long term. We know overthinking about your body is terrible for the mind, but people will ignore it completely as a compromise.

I obviously don’t know why, otherwise I’d be a carefree happy lad writing about movies right now. But my guess is a combination of reactivity and, obviously, education.

There is definitely a battle between short-term and long-term thinking. I fall into the camp of longevity at the expense of right here-right now and some think the opposite. Plus, we are influence by those around us, people we follow and who we choose listen to. How we react to what has happened to us in our past, for better or for worse. How we allow information to sink into our ethos.

Our critical thinking ability definitely affects this element. If we aren’t critical of new information, we will take it on board without thinking of consequence. But also, if we don’t question what we already know or believe, we can’t grow with the ever developing study into all these elements of health.

My hope is I can use my anime knowledge and use my weakness as a strength. To beat up this seasons boss. “Who me?”. Yes, you kamehamefuckoff. “Bit mean…”. And think my way into full health. But I do still wonder, can we fully be healthy?