Planting Healthy Seeds in the New Year
Often, people treat wellness as a focused, short-term, all-out effort. This is usually followed by an even longer period of reverting to old habits and behaviors. Here at Summerfield, we help patients meet their wellness goals in a healthy, sustainable way. Working toward our healthiest self can be compared to growing a flower.
First, we need the right materials: nutrient-rich soil, pure water, a pot, and a shovel. Then, we plant our seed and consistently provide the sunlight, warmth, and water our plant needs. Our preparations and consistency will eventually result in richly colored leaves, strong roots, and a beautiful flower.
Each plant requires slightly different nutrients and environments and each has different rhythms of growth and dormancy. So what happens to our plant if we skip a step or a crucial ingredient? If we water our plant once and never again or if we flood it by over-watering, it will fail to thrive. Consistency and balance are our flower’s only hope for surviving and thriving.
And so it is with humans too! If we don’t gather the right materials for success, practice healthy behaviors in January but not February through December, or if we overdo it with exercise, hydration, or food restriction, we will find ourselves reliving patterns and our healthiest selves will become further out of reach.
If you are exhausted from years of trying to get healthy, trying every different thing, feeling like a yo-yo, and ending back at square one, try treating your body like a flower that you’d like to keep around for a long time.
As you build your final, ‘once-and-for-all’ health plan, consider what you think you would be capable of doing forever. If you start the year with something that you can do for a short time but not consistently, decide right now what your transition will look like from that short-term solution to balance. What will your healthy self look like when you get there? How will you settle into feeling balanced without picking up old behaviors?
Start the year with a plan and knowing the steps you will consistently take to achieve your health goals. What will be the best schedule in your life for these steps to be completed consistently? Plan ahead for people, places, and things that might interfere with your wellness strategy. Know what you will do when these issues arise (because they will!) and plan ahead for how you will get back on track.
How long can a flower go without water? Try not to stray from your plan for much longer than that.
A lot of us are refocusing our healthy efforts at this time of year. These concepts can help you build a sustainable approach right from the start. As always, our team is here to support you in developing your plan for the year ahead. Connect with us!