Wellness Series
Health is enjoying your body by means
of adequate nutrition, exercise and physical awareness1.
This enjoyment manifests as a
radiate inner glow that comes from excellent personal hygiene, a handsome or
beautiful appearance, and the enriching environment in which surround yourself.
I have entered homes where even the
cats and dogs are actually battling to bloodshed because the environment wreaks
of chaos and confusion. Your physical
body is the temple of God, but can His Spirit live with you, let alone in
you, if it is planted in ungodly soil?
We talk about the joy of the Lord
being our strength. That joy comes from
an inner peace and contentment that everything is well now; or is going to be
all right soon. That joy is a knowing
that this storm in life, too, shall pass; and I am coming out stronger in faith
because of it. That joy is from the
Spirit of God.
Yet, that joy must be seen in your
physical body and in the environment in which it functions, or has its
being. The outward expression of joy
looks like happiness—a feeling showing or causing pleasure or satisfaction.
Happiness is a product, or a baby, of its parent called joy—the feeling of great
unspeakable happiness.
Do you get the connection? Joy is the highest level of being happy. But joy can only be seen by others and
yourself in a mirror when you smile; when you dress gorgeously; when your
environment is clean and wherever you take your body to go—the places you
enter.
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| "Smile" by Nigerian Impressionist Nelson Obinna |
The smile on your face comes from a
body getting good nutrition, a regular regimen of exercise, and a positive
posture in how you dress, talk your talk and walk your walk. By experience, we all know that when you eat healthy
foods, you feel “fit as a fiddle!” When
you exercise regularly, even the “happy” chemicals called endorphins are
released from the brain and flow through your bloodstream keeping you giggly
throughout the day.
We all have experienced pure joy when
dressing up so sharply that we confess in the mirror, “Wow! I am looking
good!” We genuinely smile at that new
“happening” hat, or chic, slick suit, or eye-goggling gown. When you are a child of God, what’s holding
you back from making your ordinary, everyday dressing just as special? Washing and ironing can make an old skirt or
shirt look pleasing, even professionally passable. Don’t discard your station just because you
cannot afford designer clothes. If you have
the gift of fashion, design your own line of clothing. But keep your common clothes neat, crisply
ironed and smelling great.
Let’s look at the type of environment
in which you place your physical body.
If your surroundings are not clean, your soul suffers despair. The Holy Spirit is a “person” of excellence
in all areas of your life. Excellence is
found in cleanliness, orderliness and beauty.
Our Heavenly home is ordered by these principles and so should your
earthly home.
Our earthly home is our physical body
and outside habitat. Are you taking care
of your hygiene? From the top of your
head to the bottom of your feet, pamper your body with soothing moisturizers, good
grooming, and a balanced diet. Throw
everything away that screams, “junk food!” and fill your digestive track with
“spunk food”—highly nutritional that spark your happiness spunk. And get in the habit of doing manageable bits
of exercise, from 5-minute workouts or walks; and increase daily from there
until an hour-long exercise regimen seems too short.
Do not enter into spots where there is
no “positive energy”. It will only bring
your soul down into depression. You know
those places. They are usually dark and
sinfully dangerous. Be careful where you
put your body. The Holy Spirit in you
can only thrive in light.
Lastly, but by no means least, are you
getting enough rest? Workaholics, like
me, must take my advice, dear Christian.
Over-working only leads to sleeplessness, agitation and more worry that
all the things you planned just won’t get done.
On the spectrum of work, one end carries the lazy man while the other
end supports the workaholic. Both must
meet in the middle and balance themselves on the fulcrum (the mid-point) called
physical awareness—that point when the lazy man becomes aware (sees the
results) of his poverty and starts working like the ant in Proverbs 6:6-11 to
get out of it; and when the workaholic realizes he needs a break from the
hustle for a moment to regain the inner strength he throws haphazardly into too
many projects.
When you focus on doing that one
thing that is meaningful to you and that reflects your most
important inner values, that’s when you find rest. That’s when you can get 8-10 hours’ sleep
satisfied that the work you accomplished for that day is leading you toward
fulfilling your dream goals. No matter
where you find yourself on the “work spectrum”, you can always change positions
until you reach balance—that point which gives peace to the soul; and then rest
for the body follows.
Is anyone one of you in trouble? He
should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him
sing song of praise (James 5:13, NIV).
Pray and give it all to God, then move out of the way and sing songs of
praise expressing the joy you have in knowing that God is in control; and that
He lives in you. Because God’s Holy Spirit is a person, He wants to live in a
body enjoyed by its soul—enjoyed by you.
By taking good care of your body, you give glory and praise to God.
© 2020 by Patience
Osei-Anyamesem. All rights reserved.
Published by The Liight In Me Enterprise. No part of this publication may be
reproduced, distributed, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any
form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any
other—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in
printed reviews or other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
Unless otherwise
stated, all scripture quotations are from The New King James Version. Copyright
© 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by
permission. All rights reserved.
Paintings retrieved from Black Art search engine.
1. From Travis, J. (1977). The Wellness Workbook. Mill Valley, CA,
USA: Wellness Resource Center.
Take My Hand Inspirations
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