HEALTH MATTERS
Good Health : The Foundation To Lasting Happiness !
By Kepha Nyanumba
Everyone seeks happiness . It ' s a fundamental human right . We may seek it in different ways and in different things but we do seek it and we do whatever we can to have it . We buy beautiful things , we go to restaurants and love to travel . We seek love and we seek possessions , all for the purpose of enjoying more happiness .
The pursuit of happiness is the foundation of individual liberty , since it gives us the ability to make decisions that are in our long-term best interest . Have you ever thought about the connection between happiness and good health ? Most of us would probably agree that there is a connection , but many of us who feel unhappy don ' t want to take the time to build a foundation of good health .
Good health is the launching pad for great things . It is hard to stay on track and consistent with your goals when your body isn ' t up to the challenge . It is extremely important to make sure your body stays in great shape if you want to enjoy all that life has to offer .
Happiness is a mental or emotional state of well-being defined by positive or pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy . We often confuse happiness with pleasure . We live our lives moving from satisfying one pleasure to yet another pleasure . You will not find happiness in a pleasure prison . Pleasure is short-lived and temporary . Happiness is sustainable across your life time .
If you eat for pleasure , chances are that you see food as your friend , a treat , or a reward rather than just as nourishment . It ' s a very deeply embedded view in which food becomes larger than life , taking on a glorified and revered position in your life .
Pleasure can be seductive and addictive . Our pleasure-seeking obsession is destroying our mental , physical , and spiritual well-being . Searching for pleasure in smoking , drinking , or eating
Good health is the launching pad for great things . It is hard to stay on track and consistent with your goals when your body isn ' t up to the challenge . It is extremely important to make sure your body stays in great shape if you want to enjoy all that life has to offer . unhealthy foods wastes our fragile short lives , not to mention exposing us to a host of diseases that are directly related to our pleasurable lifestyle . Pleasure is an experience ; happiness is a chosen path of a lifetime .
Eating unhealthy food just because it tastes good seems to be accepted as normal in our culture . Eating for taste without regard to the health consequences becomes easy when the reward pathways for sugar and fat are triggered and further ingrained . With such an abundance of calorie-dense foods today , it ’ s maladaptive that we seek out and enjoy the least healthy , processed foods .
Even though we know certain foods are damaging and disease-promoting , many of us eat them anyway because the immediate gratification is so tempting . The modern food industry is incredibly adept at extracting and manipulating food purely to appeal to our natural cravings and increase the enjoyment we get from food , driving us to keep buying it .
If we find ourselves trapped in addictive eating patterns , there ’ s likely something wrong internally going on . If we continually choose , or feel compulsively drawn to unhealthy foods , we are not only experiencing a physiological reaction to them , but we are essentially saying that we don ’ t value ourselves . We may feel as if we are soothing or rewarding ourselves in the moment , but deep down , we know a sense of love and respect for ourselves would not lead us to eat foods that hurt us . If we
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