Happy Father’s Day Dad!

As I age and enter into the second half of my life, I have learned to appreciate my parents more each day.  Father’s Day is approaching and this gives me a great opportunity to thank my Dad for his example of what it means to be a positive influence for my children and how to love others well.  To me, this is how health begins and ends. Love and relationships.

Thanks Dad for your unselfish and unconditional love.  Your continued persistence with working toward caring for your own health so that you can be there for your family is an inspiration!

Here are some tips that I take away from my Dad.  These tips help me to live out my days in the healthiest way possible. I hope they help you.  By the way, my Dad will be 84 years old this year and he still walks at least 2 miles a day five or more times a week.

Tip 1:  Keep exercising and make yourself get out there even when you don’t feel like it.  On the days my Dad may be feeling ‘crappy’ his philosophy is to push through it and he reasons that his walk won’t make him feel any worse than when he started.  (He doesn’t exercise when he knows he’s really sick).

• Harvard psychology professor, Tal Ben-Shahar notes that “three times a week 30 to 40 minutes of exercise is as powerful as some of the most powerful psychiatric drugs in dealing with depression, sadness and anxiety.”

Tip 2:  Think positive!  Growing up in a home that looks at life from a positive perspective has been a huge blessing for me.  Life has its ups and downs, and seeing how my Dad has handled traumatic family situations and events with a “glass half full” vantage point is a true commentary on how it provides stability, security and a sound mind.  His testimony shows me what is important in life; relationships. Thinking positive will change your health for the better. My Dad is living proof.

• Listen more to Tal Ben-Shahar, as he lectures on the benefit of exercise, and the psychology of positive thinking here. 

Tip 3:  Have time to reflect.  Take time for yourself, so that you can take time for others. Time for reflection, through prayer and/or meditation proves to reduce stress, anxiety, depression as well as provide physical health benefits like reducing blood pressure.

• Read more about how reflection can help improve your health.