Can Fitness Create Happiness?

Happiness is often a result of achieving your priorities.

When I was younger, money seemed to be the key to happiness. It was assumed that you would have friends and family. They, of course, brought love, pride, and contentment. But they didn’t fit the generation’s definition of achieving happiness.

We were raised on education, jobs, and financial security as the key to achieving your life’s mission. Financial security meant you could take care of everyone in your circle. Even as we enjoyed our families, the stress was on accumulating more.

This left a hole in our psyches. Parents out of the depression era were food, shelter, security, and safety net oriented. These were not givens in their era. They had little time to contemplate self expression and connection to their spirit.

Now, strangely enough we have passed through safety nets, accumulation, and financial security. The world is on a tenuous edge. Everything material is threatened again. In this age, however, we have had a glimpse of abundance and accumulation.

Now that it may not be our priority, we might look to more meaningful values. It is clear we need to adopt the developing world’s view of seeking independence from government entitlements. This means we need to take better care of our health and our future financial condition.

This is an opportunity to celebrate the human spirit. We have seen that free wheeling prosperity built on the back of easy credit was just a mirage. Money was never the key to real happiness. Happiness resides in our own perspective of what life is supposed to be. It all begins with gratitude. Gratitude begets kindness, generosity, and self love.

We have to appreciate that we are worthy just because we are here. We are the evolution of 3.5 billion years of life. We are the survival of the fittest. We have been given the gift of 75,000 days, approximately, to enjoy our short participation in life.

Eating healthy and getting fit is a celebration of our gift. There is nothing more basic than the appreciation of our body, mind, and spirit. When we take care of our body and mind, the spirit soars. When we strive to make our vessel as healthy, responsive, and fit as possible, we feel our connection to nature and the never ending stream of life on earth.

From this connection, everything else has a more realistic perspective. We see our struggle for finances, but also the fact that man has struggled for security since he began on earth. We are more than struggle and accumulation. Enhancing our physical and mental capabilities opens the door to priorities that make happiness a simpler achievement.