Chris J Wilson

Last month I shared my theme for the year “The Year of Health”. Since then, things have been… interesting in the most British sense of the word.

• My kids and I have been ill more often than any time I can remember (I think there’s only been a handful of days when I’ve felt actually “right”).
• I haven’t built the health habits I wanted
• despite some socialising, I’ve been very bad at looking after my mental health

Now before I go on, I want to say there has been some success. I’ve met up with some old friends, I’ve had a better temperament and perspective with my kids, and some of the really negative internal self-talk has been reduced to almost nothing (though disturbingly returned over the weekend). The main issue, however, has been that I haven’t “made the healthy choice.”

Prior to this year, I had adopted a great maxim that had really helped nudge me to some far better choices. Here’s a couple of examples

• Instead of having a beer after work on Wednesday, I’d have a cup of tea
• Not grabbing a bar of chocolate when leaving the shop
• Playing with the kids rather than sitting down
• taking the stairs not the lift.

Since the new year, I have neglected this maxim. Instead I’ve done “what I felt like”.

I don’t know how significant each action is (I’ve certainly felt worse after gobbling down a big bag of crisps one evening) but the cumulative effect is the most profound. Each time I “make the healthy choice” I take a vote on being “healthy”.

So when a bigger issue comes up like not wanting to meet up with a group of friends because the black dog has been barking on your ear all morning, it’s easier to “make the healthy choice”.

A day in bed

As I write this, I’m sat upright in bed after a day off work due to some of the worst illness I’ve had in years (no one needs more specific details do they).

I know the chemical weapons labs I live with (otherwise known as my children) are likely the main reason for this bout of illness, but I’ve been aware of this neglect for the last few weeks too.

This is the prompt I needed to get back on track (I hope)¹. It’s time to make the healthy choice again.