Are we supposed to be healthy?

Acupuncturist Miha Rosta explores what it means to be 'healthy' - if this is how we are meant to generally be, what being ill or injured means and how we interact with life.  

Are we supposed to be healthy?

I suppose you expect an Acupuncturist to say: Yes, of course. It is the most important thing in life. And you are kind of correct on that. Even our grandparents used to say: “health above all”.

But are we really supposed to be healthy people?
I don’t think so, not in that sense. And here is why..

Before that, I need to make a confession. Recently, during one of my treatments, a client said to me: “I just want to feel better”. My response? I laughed. Yes, I laughed. How unprofessional a response that was (I thought instantly), but why did I laugh?

For me, it was simply an incredible comedic response to reality. Of course, they want to feel better; that is what all of us wish for. It is so obvious that it triggered a guttural laugh in me.

My laugh was short, with a slight bitter after taste.

Bitter, because the fact is that we see our health as a function, as a necessity, and often as a nuisance to our everyday life. Whether we build our identity around being the healthy person, or the person who has no time for themselves, in both cases we treat it separately from ourselves.

Not to romanticise illness, but the most overlooked function of disease is to bring us back to the present moment. It is so we are forced to reconsider our priorities and the way we live our lives. It is often a warning, a wake-up call. Which, when ignored, turns into bigger and bigger red flags, leading to the hospital.

Just to be clear, I am not saying all injuries, accidents, and developmental disorders are a “message” or a lesson. But however we look at the way they form our experience will determine the quality of life we develop over the years.

What I am trying to touch upon is that participation in whatever life presents to us is the best response. When we are sick, we are sick. Through sickness and hardship, we grow, reflect and thrive. 

We don’t need to idolise hardship, but looking away and ignoring the reality will only halt our healing journey.

On what it means to be healthy. It is not about how many workouts we do in a week, or how well we eat. It is about how we participate in life in any and all given moments.

Eating well and meditating daily can bring us closer to a fulfilled (healthy) life, or it can drag us further away from it if it becomes a passive, stale aspect of our personality.

We can’t be healthy. The only thing constant (physically speaking) is death. What we can do is to participate in our ever-changing health. That is homeostasis. Maintaining an internal (mind) and external (body) environment in which we can survive and thrive. Constantly.

Am I an Acupuncturist because I have got a degree and insurance? Or is it because I am actively applying this healing art, supporting a multitude of people weekly? Or because I can make everyone’s pain disappear (which I cannot), as unfortunately am not (yet :D )perfect.

I do not think it would be accurate to call myself an Acupuncturist if I was not participating in the life of others in that capacity. 

I hope you find this article somewhat helpful. I just wanted to share some of my current musings. :)

And I promise I will try not to laugh next time..