D-1 to my birthday and I feel excited that I am turning 45 👻👻

I never imagined I would live that long. Not that I am depressive or suffer from a life-threatening pathology. Not at all! I am very positively wired by nature and have often been told that my aura/energy is soothing, despite the storms that I hide so well inside. I just lived every moment I could to the maximum and best of my abilities. And I never wished to remain on Earth for that long. Death was never a scary concept to me. It has always been clear in my mind that the only certain thing in life is that we will someday somehow leave our human bodies and this material world behind. I simply didn't know back then that if I wanted to get remotely close to everything I aspire to learn and read about, it would probably require several lifetimes of much longer than just 45 years each!

Living in Lebanon for the past decade or so is in itself fully straining on anybody's nerves and mental health. We experienced political chaos, financial strife, and lastly the Covid frenzy, all within 6 months. And the overall situation kept worsening by the week. Our local currency plummeted so much that many a one still do not grasp the current economic realities we have to deal with. Lebanese people are labeled as resilient. Maybe. They just find ways to adapt to disasters without resolving any issue at hand. This is quite disturbing. And yet, a very important teaching was administered to us. By force, sort of. And it is the realization that health is our most valuable asset and we should not only value it but genuinely treasure it. And that it should come first on our list of priorities.

Indeed, health is the greatest gift we are equipped with. It doesn't matter whether you believe it's provided by nature, the universe, or God. It is something crucial to our human lives. And we have unfortunately taken it for granted for too long. We have been so engulfed in our "modern" lifestyles that most of us didn't realize we needed to tend to our well-being. Physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and socially. Feeling well in all the aforementioned is conditioned by not only what we eat, but also what we think, say, and do. It is also impacted by our surroundings: where we live/work, the people in our circles -from the closest to the most distant-, and the environment around us -and no, I am not a climate catastrophist but we need to be aware of all the types of pollution that harm our organisms.

Today, several quotes inspired me on the topic of health, which is indeed vital 😁

Good health is the most important thing. More than success. More than money. More than power - Lee Strasberg

You can do anything, but not everything - David Allen

The key is not to prioritize what's on your schedule but to schedule your priorities - Stephen Covey

Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes... including you - Anne Lamott

Taking care of your mental and physical health is just as important as any career move or responsibility - Mireille Guiliano

Physical fitness is not only one of the most important keys to a healthy body, it is the basis of dynamic and creative intellectual activity - John F. Kennedy

It is in the balancing of your spirituality with your humanity that you will find immeasurable happiness, success, good health, and love - Steve Maraboli

In the end, and from my personal experience, taking care of one's health might be strenuous at first. It becomes easier with time. And it is mandatory to be able to do all the things we intend to enjoy. So let's get healthy! It will take some play, some stress management, and the mindset to seize the day every day 🤪🤪