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Lifestyle

Lifestyle: Style of life. Think for a moment what this really means.

Dictionary.com defines “style” as “The way in which something is said, done, expressed, or performed.” Typically, when we say something has “style,” we’re referring to it in high regard – that it is better than the “rest” in some way.

Does this typically apply to lifestyle? Unfortunately, the term “lifestyle” has taken on touchy feely aspect that can be uncomfortable or evasive for some. It needn’t be.

If you bought a brand new car, how would you care for it? Would you wash it consistently, keep it vacuumed, change the oil regularly, etc.? If you hold the car in high esteem, sure…you’d do all these things. And it would be easy, as you see and interact with the car each day…you want it to be in top condition, both so that it can best serve you and best reflect your investment in it. However, once the car has ding here or there, has racked up some miles, and been “around the block” a few times, does your care for it wane? Do you take care of it any less, even though it must still serve you in the same capacity? We have a “style,” or “way of being” for everything we consistently interact with.

There is nothing that we more consistently interact with than our life – our very existence. The style that we learn and apply to life affects absolutely everything that we experience. We are not trained in lifestyle, we need to learn it as we go – though we first need to learn to hold it as our primary regard. Lifestyle are the “hows” within the six areas of healthful living. And like caring for a car, some little things can have great impact (like oil and filter changes), we just need to learn what they are and integrate them into our patterns of living.

Deepak Chopra says “The way you think, behave, and eat can influence your life by 30-50 years.” Simply put, he’s referring to lifestyle.

Just because life has been around the block a few times does not mean that your care for it should wane. There are plenty of fully restored classic automobiles rolling around out there, and innumerable models of people of all ages grabbing the reigns of their lives and choosing and becoming healthy.

At Healthful Living we’ll talk about lifestyle in this overarching pervasive way. We’ll provide commentary, reflections, resources, ideas and much more in order to bolster the lifestyle of each and every one of us. We encourage you to explore the style you are applying to living and to broaden the avenues through which you enrich the experience.