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My daughter-in-law, an avid reader of LifeTrek Provisions, occasionally sends me
material for review and comment. A column by Frank Bruni of the New York Times,
titled "Be Merry, Not Ancient"
Click, cannot go unchallenged.
Bruni's thesis is that he would rather be happy now than healthy later. "Do we
really want as many years as we can get, no matter how we get them?" Bruni asks
rhetorically. "At what point does the pursuit of an extended life -- a pursuit
that pivots on the debatable assumption that habit can outwit heredity, not to
mention chance -- become the entire business of a life? Is longevity all it's
cracked up to be?"
Bruni argues no, especially if longevity means giving up life's pleasures. "If
living to 99 means forever cutting the porterhouse into eighths, swearing off
the baked potato, and putting the martini shaker into storage, then 85 sounds a
whole lot better," Bruin concludes, "and I'd ratchet that down to 79 to hold
onto the Hδagen-Dazs, along with a few shreds of spontaneity. It's a matter of
priorities."
The suggestion that health and happiness, longevity and spontaneity, are
either-or choices and at odds with each other is not my experience. Indeed, the
more engaged I have become with healthy habits, the happier I have become in
life and work. In fact, the healthy habits themselves have become a source of
happiness. The two go nicely together.
That is why our Wellness Pathways frame the pursuit of health as a happy,
enjoyable, and fun experience. We don't focus on the denial of what we cannot
have or do; we rather focus on the celebration of what we can have or do.
Fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, fish, and lean, wild meats are yum-yum foods.
So, too, with exercise. It makes a body happy to move.
So, yes, Mr. Bruni, it is important to enjoy life. But it is a false dichotomy
to suggest that we cannot enjoy life at the same as we follow the
recommendations for a healthy lifestyle. What's good for life is not
incompatible with the good life. The more we get into health, the happier we
become. And the more we get into happiness, the healthier we become.
Until we come to see and experience things in this way, healthy habits will
elude our grasp. We may try them for a while, but we will soon give them up.
Will power is not powerful enough to carry us through from the cradle to the
grave. Everything shifts, however, when we learn to enjoy what's good for life.
That's when longevity and felicity merge in common cause of a life worth living.
Coaching Inquiries: What healthy habits do you practice? Have you found ways to
make them an enjoyable part of life? How could you ramp up your enjoyment of
healthy habits? Who could join on the trek of life? To reply to this Pathway, use our
Feedback Form. To learn more about our
Wellness Coaching programs and to arrange for a complimentary wellness coaching
session, use our Contact Form or
Email Bob.
May you be filled with goodness, peace, and joy.
Bob Tschannen-Moran
President, LifeTrek Coaching International,
www.LifeTrekCoaching.com
CEO & Co-Founder, Center for School Transformation,
www.SchoolTransformation.com
2010-2011 President, International Association of Coaching,
www.CertifiedCoach.org
Address: 121 Will Scarlet Lane, Williamsburg, VA 23185-5043
Phone: (757) 345-3452
Fax: (772) 382-3258
Skype: LifeTrek
Twitter: @LifeTrekBob
Mobile: www.LifeTrekMobile.com
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