In My Perfect World

In my perfect world, we would all be more compassionate. There would be no such thing as stress. We would have world peace. Politicians would play nicely and work together to do the right thing. We wouldn’t have to pay taxes, drivers in front of me would always signal, allergies would vanish, there would never be another paper jam, no more dust or sticker residue, and people would always return my phone calls. (I might do away with bagpipes and bush balls.) And, as I design my perfect world, I think I would like to see junk food become health food (healthy junk food, that is).

When creating a perfect world, it’s probably a good idea to define the word  perfect.  When I looked it up, I found out it’s derived from the Latin word perfectus meaning, “To finish, bring to completion.” The modern definition of the word is “entirely without any flaws, defects or shortcomings.” One of the slang definitions –Just what the doctor ordered—turns out to be the perfect segue to wellness.

None of us is without flaws, defects or shortcomings, so that in itself bursts the perfect world bubble. But, we can still work towards the "bringing to completion" and "finishing what we start" part. Where wellness is concerned, we can all agree that we want to be well, and while some of being well is out of our control, much of it is up to us.  Statistics say the foods we choose to eat on a daily basis contribute 80 percent to whether we will develop diabetes, heart disease, or cancer.  Approximately 40 percent of deaths in the U.S. are caused by behavior patterns that could be modified, and an estimated 87.5 percent of health care claims costs are due to an individual’s lifestyle.

   

So, in my perfect world, the choices we make when we don’t know what to do, would always turn out to be the right choice. And, where those lifestyle choices are concerned, they are choices in our control.

We know the world is not a perfect place, probably never has been and most likely never will be. But at least we can all contemplate, face and make those choices that will individually and collectively make it better. And surely, if we all strive to make our own worlds more perfect, we will find we have a better world overall as a result. 

So, where wellness-related lifestyle behavior choices are involved, what are you willing to do to bring your world a little closer to perfect?