Do you really love those closest to you?

Here it goes… You should be trying your hardest to live an active and healthy life, especially if you really love your loved ones. If you care for them at all, then you care for yourself. If you don’t care for your health then, to me, it may seem like you do not really love those that you say you do. One of the primary reasons a person takes care of their own health should be so that they can always be there for their loved ones. Think about it. In an ideal world, as the son or daughter to your parents, you should culturally feel responsible to be and stay healthy so that you can take care of your parents as they took care of you. As a parent, you are responsible to take care of and maintain your health so that you can care of and for your child. Is it starting to make sense?
I recently dealt with a situation where I was trying to convince a lady to start taking charge of her health. I kept reasoning why she should feel responsible to lead a healthy and active lifestyle such as living longer, feeling stronger, better sleep and improving her mood, but no matter what I said, she was not convinced that there was a strong enough reason to make the necessary changes in her current lifestyle. The one reason she kept going back to was that she would possibly make the changes if she was guaranteed a better body. Body confidence was the only thing she felt was big enough of a reason, but only if she was definitely getting her ‘new’ body. Okay, so that’s not a bad reason, it’s a reason and it motivates a lot of people, and it’s usually one of the many reasons people stay fit and active. The only problem is that she wasn’t even convinced, she wanted a guarantee.
Right then and there, my brain stopped functioning because I could not process how she couldn’t find any other reason or motivation to improve her health. All of a sudden, I blurted out, “then you don’t love your husband, children or parents, because if you did, then you would make sure to take care of yourself so you could always take care of them.” She just stood their staring at me and after a few seconds responded, “of course I do, I love them.” At that moment, I saw her mindset completely change and it seemed she understood what I was trying to get at. I personally never even looked at it exactly in that way before, but it made sense to me when I said it out loud and thankfully, to her too!
So think about it, do you really really really love those you claim to love? I challenge you to stop and think about it. And while you’re at it, ask yourself the most important question of all…do you love the closest person to you…yourself? If you do then you would take care of yourself, it’s that simple.

* The author is a wellness advocate and influencer @keys2balance.