It’s February – Take Heart!
February is National Heart Month – a time when the American Heart Association asks us to pay particular attention to our heart health. It is also a time when the initial enthusiasm with which we approached New Year’s resolutions begins to wane. Goals set for more consistent physical activity and including more heart-friendly foods like vegetables and fruits in the diet have been challenged by conflicting priorities such as work and family demands. The “winter blues” are casting a shadow over the hopes we had for positive changes in 2010. Take heart.
Lifestyle change is not a “one-walk dog”, but requires regular commitment – whether we feel like it or not. For example, we walk the dog whether we feel like it or not because the benefits far outweigh the inconvenience (both for ourselves and our pets!). However, our lifestyle habits like regular exercise and nutritional eating do not always provide an immediate reward. We don’t feel our arteries clearing, our cells shifting from fat storing ones to fat-burning ones, our bones becoming denser, and so on. We only notice the time and energy and money our new practices are costing! We push away the $50,000 figure that coronary by-pass surgery costs, along with lost wages, lost time for doing other activities, lost health, and so on. And we rarely connect sedentary living with the only warning some folks ever get that they have cardiac disease – a fatal heart attack! Or, we simply conveniently deny that this could ever happen to us. In fact, Heart Association research shows that teaching people about the health benefits of exercise and a healthy diet vs. the health risks of sedentary living and fast food make little or no difference in peoples’ choices or behaviors. What does?
What people think, believe, and feel affects how they behave. External rewards have little impact. What is needed is an introspective looking into one’s heart and reflecting upon the beliefs, perspectives, and emotions that are impacting choices. The quiet stillness of winter is the perfect time to explore more deeply what we need to create, develop, self-motivate, and inspire our commitment to change.
Ask questions like, “When did I notice my commitment wavering?” “What benefits am I getting from not changing?” “What do I really want and why do I want it?” “What support system do I have in place?” “How can I meet obstacles with courage and creativity?”
This mental toughness to examine our hearts, our heart’s desires, and our tenacity in the face of obstacles (both internal and external) will truly empower our hearts and improve our lives.
Happy Valentine’s Day!