Grab the steering wheel of your own healthy life.

If you are driving or cycling down the road and you turn the wheel of your car or bike sharply in one direction or the other, that is the direction that you’ll go at that moment. If you keep your car moving in that new direction, that will determine where you end up. Your future is not determined by how you drove or cycled yesterday, or how you drive or cycle tomorrow. It is determined by what you think and do right now.

You cannot control the entire world. You cannot control all the intricate and infinite details of modern life. You cannot control all the years that lie behind or the years that lie ahead, but you can control this present moment. Fortunately, this is all that you need to do to create your own health and achieve it. And this means that you must only take in healthy, nutritious mental influences if you want to be fit mentally, as well. You should read inspiring material, listen to positive audio programs, watch uplifting educational video programs, and associate with positive people. You must guard your mental integrity as a sacred thing.

The secret of nature

Today, I took a long walk by myself in the forest close to my apartment. I have been visiting this forest for almost nine years, but it’s only recently that I started to observe certain trees and how they are growing. I wondered how many people just pass by every day, never noticing that this tree was a baby last year and now is a grown-up tree. I’ve heard that trees talk to each other, and I’ve started to think that’s true. No matter which forest you go to, every tree is different. No two trees look the same, yet all trees live together in harmony. This confirmed my thinking that we humans, who are also unique, should be able to live side by side in harmony, like trees.

There is something important about nature and the connection to our health. When I was in China, I climbed mountains and went into the forest for picnics with my Chinese colleagues or classmates. Many Chinese scholars have written about how important it is to spend time in the forest or nature to gain more energy or to enjoy life. Many old Chinese people spend their time with nature or forest because they experience increased happiness and pleasure, sleep and energy, and more relaxed mind.

When I started to add walking in the forest as a part of my activities for a sustainable change of my life, I realized that not only did I feel better and happier, but my health was much better. I wasn’t getting sick as often as before. I think there’s some secret in the air of those forests. When I’m in the forest walking, everything feels different. I always get most of what to write about next chapter during this time, and my insights and ideas flow like never before. I always find solutions to bigger issues that I had put off for later analysis or decision making. I would suggest that you find your own daily forest to visit so that you can elevate your mind and body and fill your healthy basket.