I am a healthy being, luckily never feeling more than a cold. Either I am extremely lucky or there is something more at work here. As an athlete, it is my job to take care of my body-to exercise it and monitor what goes in and out of it and so on. My diet consists of meals packed with protein, greens, fruits, and water, water, water! I know when to eat and how much and what is good for my body. The ladies and I on the team are given a strict work-out regiment, including cardio and lifting plans, tailored to our specific bodies. It's wonderful and convenient. We are given the opportunities to do exactly what one needs to have a perfectly healthy body.
And yet, last week, three girls were out with the flu. A month earlier, Lizzi was out with a skin condition. How is this possible with all of tools we are given? Yes, health involves more than diet and exercise, but what else? Genetics, yes. Mental health, yes. Is it all in my head that I am so dang healthy? I grew up with a father who always insisted that nothing was ever wrong with me... My toe didn't hurt, if it's bleeding get a band-aid, if your head hurts drink more water, etc. That could be the case, that I have taken on my father's role as an incredible "optimist." Maybe I feel the symptoms, and brush them off as if they do not exist. Maybe I am resilient. Maybe it is my regulated diet and and my love of exercise. Or maybe it is all of these things. My mind AND my body are working together to keep me busy, to keep me moving, and productive. It cannot be just my brain and thoughts keeping me out of the doctors office, and yet it cannot be merely my lifestyle either. There is not a complete split, but a mind-body friendship, a relationship that can sometimes take breaks.
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