Humility in the Wellness Lifestyle and Dealing with Adversity

If you are actively pursuing superior health it won’t be easy. If you think maintaining a healthy lifestyle is easy… think again. You will face adversity. Never mind the media, the government, special interest groups and pharmaceutical companies… some of your strongest adversity will come from family, friends and co-workers.

Your goal should be to enter into a positive and friendly dialog with people. To do this we need humility… which is a modest (or accurate) view of one’s own importance.

With this in mind, it’s helpful to remember that the pursuit of superior health is a journey. We may say that we’re living a healthy lifestyle, but then we discover new things. I know that I’m constantly learning new things and making changes to my lifestyle based on the new knowledge. Just remember that different people are at different places in the journey.

I advise all of my patients to read Eat to Live, by Joel Fuhrman. And if you’ve read it, you most likely know more about healthy eating than 99% of the people (and doctors) you know. However, when communicating our health choices with others, we need to remember the importance of humility!

When associating with others who have unhealthy life habits (especially food), your choices will most likely irritate them. They may just be ignorant. They probably have very strong opinions. They may even become antagonistic (because they want to defend their beliefs).

If they try to get you to change or go off your health plan (i.e. “here try a little”, “I made it just for you”, or “a little won’t kill you”), simply thank them and kindly let them know that you don’t have great self-control (true of all of us!) and that if you went off your plan you would have difficulty getting back on track. Gently let them know that you have been on a healthy groove and let them know that your doctor recommended the health choice (food, exercise, chiropractic, massage or whatever), and that it seems to be working for you now – but you’re always open for change & improvement.

This strategy is detailed in the book, The Pleasure Trap, by Lisle and Goldhamer, and helps position you as a humble student open to learning (not a food guru or an extremist). You’ll find that an attitude of humility goes a long way to keeping a friendly dialog open. And who knows… maybe next time they’ll even agree to try that sprout & bean patty you made!