Series: What is Healthy? Part 1

A month ago I had a discussion with one of my old roomies about what exactly constitutes a healthy human being.  His definition included some surprisingly specific physical requirements.  They included: 1 pull up, 10 pushups, and being able to run a mile in under ten minutes.  He stated that these requirements should be very easy for physically healthy person to meet.

Intrigued, I asked him to elaborate on the topic and he gave me the following opinion expanded to include mental and emotional health as well.  So here is Mikey’s response in his own words:

“Actually, I consider "healthy" to be a series of three aspects.

1: Physical, which would be standard fitness.
2: Mental, which would be anything considered Mental Health.
and finally,
3: Diet, which is more of a soul aspect. You're spirit / soul is what you eat. Probably in America it's filled with torture and abuse of power, created by the meat industry.

Physical is only one small aspect of it!”

I haven’t seen him in awhile, but back when we lived under one roof, Mike was a dedicated vegetarian (and I would presume from his answer still is) and since then has spent time training for month long trips hiking through the mountains.  He’s been very encouraging to me, with helpful advice based on his own quest for lifelong health.

And he got me to thinking:  What is healthy?  How do different people define it?  And how can I compile those opinions into the definition that’s going to define my own journey and will work for me?

So I turned the question outward upon my wide variety of friends, and the results have started to return.  Over the next week or two I will be posting to the: “What is Healthy?” series, with different responses that I have received along with my own thoughts.

If you are reading this blog and would like to be involved in the series, please feel free to send me your answer to the question – What is Healthy?  Your answer can involve the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual aspect or all three.  If you decide to participate please let me know how I should credit you and say about you or if you prefer to remain anonymous.

So tell me - what do YOU think?