Last weekI told you I’d give you my take on striking a balance between the pursuit of health as reasonable self-care versus an unhealthy obsession.
This is the most important thing to know: if getting healthy or living a long life doesn’t turn into a futile, selfish, time-consuming love affair, you need to understand and accept that you will eventually break.
No matter how strict you and I are and how well matched you and I are, at the end of the day we’re going to be lying on our deathbeds with beef for muscles, porous bones, clogged arteries and plaque brains.
I read the Bible every day and it is full of these kinds of reminders. Outwardly, we perish (2 Corinthians 4:16), the earthly tent we live in is eventually destroyed (2 Corinthians 5:1), our lives are like grass, we bloom like the flower of the field, then the wind blows us away and we are gone (Psalm 103:15-16). We are fleeting shadows and cannot endure (Job 14:1-2).
So I’m not interested in biohacking, supplements, dieting, training, and exploring the fringes of the universe of health, fitness, and longevity because I think six-pack abs should be worshiped as the pinnacle of the human experience, because I believe that when I take my last breath it’s “game over,” or because my philosophy is that the modern is over.
Instead, my goal is to live as healthily as possible, as close to my dying day as possible, and eventually die after a day of heliskiing in the Alps at age 90-some, preferably while making love to my wife—a scenario that he thinks would be a bit uncomfortable and logistically challenging.
See, whether you’re doing the basics or the advanced stuff, there it is value in taking care of your body and brain, because these are the vessels God has given us to carry out His purpose for our lives.
It’s just harder to be as impactful and purposeful as you can be—much less wrestle or walk or throw a football with your grandkids or be any other kind of valuable asset to your family—if your brain is foggy, your joints hurt, you have nerve irritation from type II diabetes, and you’re morbidly obese..
So you should consider treating your body like a house that you can live in for another fifty, sixty or seventy years perhaps. Ideally (and you can go wherever you want with these transfers)the sink hasn’t been leaking all night, the toilet mostly flushes, and there’s at least a few shingles left on the roof.
And you should do this while balancing a stoic life of occasional cold dips and kettlebell swings, an ascetic life interwoven with fasting and self-denial, and an Epicurean life enjoying all of God’s great creation, free of hedonism, gluttony, laziness, and intemperance.
What that looks like will be different for each of us.
For example, I am in the fitness industry. It’s mine slavery experimenting with biohacks, experimenting with new protocols and, frankly, showing proof of concept by looking half-decent in my shirt on Instagram. Since this world is my job and I get paid to immerse myself in it, I probably average a few hours a day in some form of “self care”.
Assuming you weave low levels of physical activity, “exercise snack” breaks, and some dietary restraint into your average day, you can easily get away with about 45 to 60 minutes of self-care. Over the next few weeks, I’ll tell you how to do it easily.
But first, there is a very important concept to understand. It’s a concept that’s often overlooked in the health and fitness industry, but it should form the basis of how you think about maintaining your own health and longevity in a sane and balanced way.
I will share this idea with you in next week’s newsletter.
In the meantime, please leave your questions, comments and feedback below. I read them all. I’m especially interested in hearing what yours is Why is it for your fitness, health or longevity practice.
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Previously Posted on Ben Greenfield’s blog
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The post Why Biohack? Accepting Our Mortality appeared first on The Good Men Project.
