Strategy for Being Here

 

 “Keep your vitality. A life without health is like a river without water.” ~  Maxime Lagacé

I love listening to Les Brown. He has a rare voice of wisdom in our days and an even more infectious laugh. I was listening to him as I wound down my day while crocheting away and just had to stop and reach for my notebook on one of those episodes.

He started by talking about a session he had with his mentor. He’d been asked to come up with a few goals that he would then discuss with the mentor and he’d come back with his list. Upon looking through the list, the mentor asked him, “What’s your strategy for being here?”

We have goals, we make plans, we strategize, save and invest to ensure success. But, what is your strategy for being here?

Most of our major goals are usually multi-year goals. Goals that can only be achieved over a lifetime. So what’s your strategy for being ‘100% fit and able to pursue and accomplish those goals’ kind of here?  

In my 20s, I had running goals that I was chipping away by clocking 5K runs thrice a week and showing up for a 10K every Saturday morning. Everything was going according to plan until it wasn’t. I spent my 30s in knee braces, taking chondroitin supplements, and getting MRIs that confirmed I had arthritis in my knees. However, I had to keep moving and my running goals turned into meters above sea-level goals. One step at a time, I reached the highest point in Africa and many other summits in between. I continued searching and eventually found ways to get my knees back.

The years are piling up meanwhile and new problems are coming up. Yesterday’s strategy worked for yesterday but today needs a new strategy – because I still have a goal to be here, and goals to achieve.

You have to take responsibility for your physical, mental, and spiritual health as part of your strategy for being here. Your diet, workouts, habits, and mindset all contribute to your strategy for being here; winging it is not a strategy.

More important than a check-up you can get at a hospital is a check-in that everyone should give themselves from time to time. You live with you 24/7 and you’re the best person to identify whether all systems are working well. Sadly, most people have long lost the ability to know what their optimum condition looks like. Numbing using substances and over-the-counter drugs has long become a norm in our society we no longer know what ‘being fine’ truly means. Unfortunately, this means that we incubate serious conditions for years while ignoring our body’s warning signals until it is too late and we get diagnosed with chronic, life-threatening conditions.

Take some time today to check in with yourself. Do you need more or less sleep? Is that alcohol or cigarette necessary? Is your body crying out for a break? Do you need to stretch? Are your emotions seeking a release? When was the last time your soul connected with its sustainer? Take a moment to check in and then give yourself what you need today. Come up with a strategy for being here, not only for yourself but for those who depend on and love you. If not for you, then for them.

“You have something special. You have greatness in you.” ~ Les Brown