With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility
Today, we are talking about responsibility and how we can view our responsibilities as a tool for empowering us instead of feeling like a chore that we “have” to do! I offer a few perspective shifting tools at the end to help you feel more empowered within your wellness routines!
Our human bodies are the true pinnacle of a marvel of nature. The potential of the human body is absolutely unbelievable, and as we’ve seen in the world of extreme sports and adventurers, we appear to only continue to uncover and tap into greater potential. This idea reminds me of a conversation I was having recently with my good friend and mentor Josh Catalano (owner and Master trainer at Refined Personal Training) about the gift of our bodies.
We were discussing how we don’t have to do anything to obtain our human bodies. There is no cost to buy in initially, you didn’t ask for it, you didn’t choose it, and it doesn’t come with an ownership fee of any kind. It is a beautiful and mysterious and absolutely awe inspiring gift that is bestowed upon us for seemingly no reason at all. That being said, I feel this is the perfect time to refer to wise Uncle Ben from Spiderman when he says, “With great power comes great responsibility.”
The potential of each and every person's body remains untapped in some way shape or form. I am of the belief that we all have additional states of wellness that we could tap into in some way or another regardless of where we are currently at, because we all sell ourselves short and are remarkable at getting in our own way (antihero reference, anybody?). The potential we hold is amazing and untapped and is an absolute marvel that we can give to ourselves and subsequently give to the world. But this ultimately stems from Uncle Ben's premise: responsibility.
We have unbelievably powerful bodies, capable of so much more than we have ever imagined, and in such unique and individual ways. I am continually blown away time and again by the power people can and do discover within themselves through movement and exercise. But this begs the question that Josh posed: if we have this beautiful body that was gifted to us at no cost whatsoever, doesn’t that infer that we have a responsibility to use and refine that power as a force for empowerment and self love? Think of it in terms of reciprocity: your body was the ultimate gift, the most amazing and phenomenal gift you could have ever received. How do you consistently choose to take care of and appreciate the greatest gift you could ever receive?
Our human bodies have built in biological needs that were developed over the 20 million years of hominid evolution that led to the species we are now, Homo Sapiens sapiens. We developed and evolved needs for sunlight, food, procreation, movement, sleep, connection and community, and creativity. All of these are built in responsibilities to the body we are given, and many of these are utterly ignored or are hijacked in our modern world. Our need for food is hijacked by highly processed, hyperpalatable foods that don’t meet our nutritional needs. Our movement has been subjugated to an excessively sedentary lifestyle; couching, slouching, typing, and swiping are the main forms of movement. Our light exposure, as we talked about in the sleep hygiene series, has been altered in a way that confuses our hormonal system responsible for queuing us with our diurnal instincts. Our communities have been broken apart and fractured, and because of this the tribal nature of humans that made us as successful as we are today is aimed towards its negative expressions of division, anger, and violence. It has been said that art, music, and dance are man’s saving graces, but again it feels as though all of these forms of expression have been commodified and altered in a way that leaves many of us disconnected from our own individual expressions of them. It feels as though our society is pulling us away from our natural human needs in almost all directions for the sake of larger profits.
All of this paints a seemingly grim picture, and I’m fully aware of this. But, this has also brought us to a brilliantly beautiful and perspective shifting question: do you get to or do you have to?
Do you get to move? Do you get to go to the gym, go for a walk, go hiking, dance, etc.? Do you have the ability to meet your food needs by making conscious and specific food choices? Do you have the ability to meet and connect with people? Do you have the ability to purchase different lighting for your home that better aligns with your circadian rhythm? Do you get to express your creativity in ways that are unique and true to you? I would argue the answer to all of these questions is yes. In some way shape or form, yes. You GET to. You don’t HAVE to, but if you choose to inhabit a more human existence in your human body, you get to. While responsibility can feel obligatory in many ways, as we’ve seen with the ways our society is trending, respecting and honoring your needs and responsibilities as a human is something that you get to do. If you have the opportunity to take care of yourself and your body, both will reciprocate and return the favor to you. It’s a cyclical process of reciprocity: if you get to take care of your body, your body gets to continually offer you its power and potential.
Here are my perspective shifts I can offer around the responsibilities of health and wellness:
Do you get to or do you “have” to? Think about your current wellness routines. Ask yourself this question as it pertains to your behaviors. Could this perspective shift alone make your wellness routines feel empowering instead of feeling like an obligation?
Are the behaviors and routines you engage in entirely unavailable to somebody else? What would somebody who can no longer or never could engage in these behaviors say to you?
Gratitude is crucial. It offers us humility, perspective, and allows us to take a moment to appreciate what we are currently taking for granted in the present moment.
Remember that your humanity is a gift that you gave nothing to receive. You get to choose how to create wellness within the framework your body has provided you. Celebrate your own individuality, creativity, and uniqueness in the ways you get to!
Today, it is my pleasure to leave you with words from John F. Kennedy:
As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.
With all my heart and precious time,
Noah
