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Taking Back Responsibility
By Peter Games, L. Ac.
Chinese New Year is the most important celebration in the Chinese calendar but it isn’t celebrated on January 1. Instead, the first day of the Chinese New Year falls on the second new moon after the winter solstice.
Legend holds that in ancient times, the Buddha asked all of the animals of the kingdom to meet him on Chinese New Year, but only twelve turned up. As a sign of gratitude, the Buddha named a year after each of the animals and announced that those born during that year would inherit some of the personality traits of that animal.
A New Year represents an opportunity for many of us, an opportunity to take stock of our lives and create a list of resolutions for the coming year. But rather than simply listing tasks or goals that you will try to shoehorn into your already busy schedule, perhaps it would be wiser to examine any resolutions you recently made and at the same time assess your beliefs and ideas about health. Simply making goals may not be as helpful as exploring and evaluating your own views about health. Rather than resolving to change your schedule and do more things, resolve to change your mind.
There is no single path that leads to health for everyone and there are many reasons why we have a hard time getting and staying healthy. Perhaps it is more appropriate to view health not so much as a destination but as a very personalized journey. There are myriad social and psychological influences that affect how we view health and acknowledging these forces (which we may have never acknowledged previously) can help us to gain clarity in our own personal journey.
In an age when advances in technology and medical knowledge have improved longevity and disease treatments, it is easy to see why so many think that health comes from the doctor or the drugstore. We have in many ways become a reactive society, calling the doctor or taking a drug when diseases have taken hold, rather than a proactive society, taking preventative measures that may eliminate or reduce risks before problems arise. In adopting this reactive mindset, we ultimately relinquish responsibility for our health to others. Yet it is important to see that there is no one more responsible for your own health than you.
By Peter Games, L. Ac.
Chinese New Year is the most important celebration in the Chinese calendar but it isn’t celebrated on January 1. Instead, the first day of the Chinese New Year falls on the second new moon after the winter solstice.Legend holds that in ancient times, the Buddha asked all of the animals of the kingdom to meet him on Chinese New Year, but only twelve turned up. As a sign of gratitude, the Buddha named a year after each of the animals and announced that those born during that year would inherit some of the personality traits of that animal.
A New Year represents an opportunity for many of us, an opportunity to take stock of our lives and create a list of resolutions for the coming year. But rather than simply listing tasks or goals that you will try to shoehorn into your already busy schedule, perhaps it would be wiser to examine any resolutions you recently made and at the same time assess your beliefs and ideas about health. Simply making goals may not be as helpful as exploring and evaluating your own views about health. Rather than resolving to change your schedule and do more things, resolve to change your mind.
There is no single path that leads to health for everyone and there are many reasons why we have a hard time getting and staying healthy. Perhaps it is more appropriate to view health not so much as a destination but as a very personalized journey. There are myriad social and psychological influences that affect how we view health and acknowledging these forces (which we may have never acknowledged previously) can help us to gain clarity in our own personal journey.
In an age when advances in technology and medical knowledge have improved longevity and disease treatments, it is easy to see why so many think that health comes from the doctor or the drugstore. We have in many ways become a reactive society, calling the doctor or taking a drug when diseases have taken hold, rather than a proactive society, taking preventative measures that may eliminate or reduce risks before problems arise. In adopting this reactive mindset, we ultimately relinquish responsibility for our health to others. Yet it is important to see that there is no one more responsible for your own health than you.
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