Health.

Have you found it yet?

Diets. Exercise. Supplements. Mindfulness.

We humans are all searching for it—for health. Just as we search for many things: for meaning in our lives, for signs of life in the far corners of the universe, for the fountain of youth, for peace, for the connection between matter and energy, for lost socks, and for the best restaurant in the neighborhood. We ask questions. We look for Holy Grails.

Simpler organisms, not so much. Bacteria and viruses survive—or don’t—in whatever environments they encounter. They respond and adapt in rapid, highly efficient, and largely predictable ways. And quickly. Not us.

Equipped with complex brains and bodies, we explore, we create, and we evolve physiologically and genetically across generations. Our environments are a different story—those we can change, and often in drastic ways and at remarkable speed. That which we call health, of mind and body, emerges from the interaction of those environments and those genetics. That which we call health is both a process and a destination.

Where do you want to go, and how are you getting there?

“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”
“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.”
— Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

Stay tuned for more essays…

If this essay resonated, consider connecting with me on LinkedIn for updates and future writing:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/healthyhandscenter?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app

You can also explore related conversations on the Nurse to Health podcast:
http://hofstra.edu/nursetohealth