Whether young or old, when we are active we bring more energy and spirit to our lives.  Health emerges from our activities.   The types of movements we partake in affects how we think.  When we move, do we move with all aspects of our body?  When we walk, do we walk with just our legs or with our legs and spine?  Is our movement focused on competition or sharing?  Is our movement natural and inherent in our lives or do we have to force ourselves to get around?  Health is an emergent property of the complex system we are.  When we get a blood test or a physical exam, the results are simply data to be used to adjust our course of action.  That action may be how we eat or how we exercise, but it all comes down to taking action with the feedback we receive.

Health is an asset comprised of the decisions we make about how we move and take action in our lives at home and on the job.  The more health we have the more sense of well being and happiness follow. Health and happiness emerge out of the pleasures we take in our movements and actions.  If we can associate our actions with nurturing our skills and abilities we can grow our physiological assets  providing more value to our future selves.   All it takes is a small decision in this moment or the next to benefit our health.   Deciding to take the stairs instead of the elevator or go talk to someone instead of emailing are some of the small things we can do.  Taking fifteen minutes to go for a walk, run, lift some weights or do a tai chi set are some bigger investments stewarding the physiological system of our future selves.    Repeating beneficial actions over and over again until they become second nature is how we grow our physiological assets.  As the saying goes, practice makes permanent.

There is another aspect of our physiological assets to be discussed next time that is a gift if we choose to see it that way.