Build Up

Today, more than ever before, we are inundated with choices. The advent of technology has made it possible not only to have any product delivered to our doorstep, but it has also allowed us to learn of places, ideas, and cultures, both familiar and unfamiliar to us.

While the freedom that comes with modernity can be liberating, even exhilarating, it also can be debilitating. In a boundless field of options, some are left feeling floundered. As a self-admitted indecisive, I have often asked myself, how can we ever know that the path we are embarking on is the right one among the infinite lines in the universe?

This is one of the reasons absolutes make us feel safer. Living in a world structured by resounding “Dos and Don’ts” makes winding our way through a complicated world simpler. This binary outlook providing us with shortcuts that eliminates much of the thinking tethered to making endless decisions. But as you've probably sensed dear reader, absolutes very rarely exist.

Though black and white doctrines can be found lurking in nearly every domain of life, we are going focus on absolutist thinking as it relates to heath.

Be wary of the following extremes:

“Never eat XYZ”

If there are foods that you know your body doesn’t take well to, honor this embodied intuition. You know yourself best! And yet…while eliminating triggering foods can help you heal, it may not be a sustainable long-term strategy. So, if you have irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) symptoms and abide by a lower-fiber diet, perhaps rather than avoiding Brussel sprouts and lentils indefinitely, experiment with gradually reintroducing them into your diet and see if your body adjusts to higher and higher increments of fibrous foods.

“Avoid the Sun”

We are often reminded to avoid the sun, or to religiously lather ourselves with sunscreen. While it is true that sunburns and infrequent but intense bouts of sun exposure are linked to an increased risk of skin cancer, it is also true that sunshine marinates us in many health benefits. In fact, the sun is one of nature's finest doctors. Though excessive time in sun the can be harmful, so too avoiding sunshine may lead to vitamin D deficiency, which is linked to a host of chronic diseases. And so rather than fearing the sun, it may be more fruitful to enjoy a reverent friendship with it. While controversial, some argue that regular sun exposure below the threshold of a sunburn can increase resilience to UV ray exposure by increasing one's melanin stores.

“Stress is BAD”

We are often reminded of the havoc stress wreaks on our minds and bodies. And rightly so – stress can be toxic. And yet, it is important to remember the difference between chronic and acute stress. Acute stress, or stress in small doses, can be counterintuitively beneficial for us. Things like exercising and fasting stress the body, and precisely by doing so, they make us more resilient. This truth seems to relay that instead of avoiding things that are “bad,” like stress, we need to learn how to become more resilient in the face of them, since it is an impossible strategy to forever evade stress. Our capacity to adapt to sporadic amounts of moderate stress is called hormesis.

Stress comes in all forms – there’s emotional stress (i.e. fighting with a friend), physical stress (i.e. exercising), nutritional stress (i.e. fasting), environmental stress (i.e. toxins), and the list goes on and on.

Even though our body releases the same stress hormones in response to exercising as it would to fighting with a friend, the former stress is short-lived, and renders us stronger. In time, we can gradually increase the intensity of our workouts while taxing our bodies less. This speaks to the way in which small doses of certain kinds of stress can promote our health. It’s the hamster wheel of chronic stress that’s deadly, but that’s a whole other enchilada to be tackled another time.

Friends, nothing in life is static, and neither are we. All the above is simply to say – do not operate from a place of fear. Be skeptical of absolutes, and remember that nothing should be avoided as if it were the plague. The truth is that your body is designed to cope with stress, and even to adapt to it. So, take in a sweet breath of air and remember this truth: you are resilient.