Social Health
How are you? This seems to be a greeting nowadays instead of a real question. You ever wonder why someone would ask of your doing, yet before you can respond they are engage in the next conversation? Am I the only one who notices that? I’m built on love your neighbor as you love yourself. So how can I love you if I can’t spare you five minutes of my day to know of your health- whether physical, mental or social? The honest truth is, health is taken for granted until it’s your health. In addition, all of us struggle at some level with health. I am a firm believer of balance. I know if everything is balanced, things will run smoothly.
How important is your health? If I were to create a survey and proposed this question I can guarantee you, 100 out of 100 would answer VERY IMPORTANT (But it is really?). I’d be lucky if 10 percent out of the 100 really takes good care of their overall health. I salute the salad eaters, vegans/vegetarians. The gym goers, the yoga lovers and the spiritual connecters. I praise anyone who have the power of commitment.
Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being
and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” WHO, 1948.
Have you ever had a cold that was accompanied by a fever? The kind of cold that leaves your chest dry, eyes watery, and throat on fire. You and I can both agree it is not fun. Living in NYC, I’ve realized that colds are more common in the winter time. However, I also know that one can go many winters without catching the virus. Therefore, It’s a matter of association. If I engage with someone who has a cold, there’s a high chance that I might catch it too. Which brings me to my point- Social Health. This blog is not about a cold, the flu, or physical viruses. In this blog, I want to address the importance of social health. I’m curious about this generation who trades human interactions for candycrush. I wonder how many of us know that social health is just as important as physical and mental.
According to yoli.com, Social health can be defined as, your ability to create meaningful relationships with other people and interact in healthy and positive ways. HEALTHY and POSITIVE are the stars of that sentence. For those of you who don’t know what a healthy relationship is; It is emotional, physical, mental investment, genuity, selfless, undergirding, understanding, support on every level, and mutuality. It doesn't stop there. One must carry all those characteristics out in a constructive ( positive) way. We all suffer at some level in our social health; especially nowadays. The fact that some of us are always comparing ourselves to the next person, which takes away from our ability to grow and evolve. Some of us are quick to criticize when our brothers/sisters make a mistake. Some rejoice when someone else falls. These are all viruses that we suffer from as a society. I don’t think it’s fair to choose who to be nice to and who not to be nice to. Healthy and positive interaction is a right to humankind. It is contagious. Whether it’s positive or negative.
Some of the following factors can significantly affect one's social health by creating a barrier mentally and physically. For example a person’s education, income, status, so on and so forth. It’s been said that people with better education makes better choices, gets better jobs and that automatically improves ones status. So how do we improve? Great question! Social health don’t require much. Something as simple as saying good morning to a stranger, giving a compliment, donating a dollar to the homeless, smile, Joining a bookclub- it really is the little things that make such a big difference. Reading the news paper, educating yourself on what is going on in the community/world, organizing a fundraiser for the local boys and girls club ect.. The list goes on. The more you engage, the less stress you’ll be which will improve your physical and mental health. Like stated before, if everything is in balance, then everything will run smoothly.
Look back at the last 365 days, what have you done to improve your social health? Is it something you struggle with? Did you even know the importance of it? Talk to me. I look forward to reading your responses. Don’t forget to leave a comment and subscribe.