It’s the time
of year for contemplating and I’m asking you to join me. I’ve been thinking
about the wonderful holiday weekend my family enjoys annually and how much fun
it is each year for me to watch everyone open the Christmas gifts that I
carefully plan, purchase and wrap. Each gift is truly appreciated by the
recipient and once more I realize how much I agree with the old adage, “giving
is better than receiving.”

Jodi Davis

Of course,
when we’re young it’s all about the receiving. The wrapping paper can’t be torn
off the gift fast enough as we view the new treasure that we now hold in our
hands, something that we had only wished for just moments before. But as we
become adults, things change. We like to give these treasures instead. Oh sure,
we still love to receive gifts, but we enjoy giving gifts even more.

There’s
nothing wrong with that… but there is just one little problem: We don’t give
anything to ourselves.

Money Can’t
Buy It

Let me
elaborate on that a bit. Now I realize that many of us buy ourselves something
nice — you could call it a gift perhaps — for the holiday season: A new outfit,
jewelry, maybe even some shoes. But I’m referring to a gift bigger and better
than any of those things. I’m referring to a gift that doesn’t even require a
single dollar in order for you to purchase. Yes it is free, but it still isn’t
given. This gift will benefit not only you but also your family members
for years to come, yet it’s often totally forgotten about: better health.

Okay, now
before you stop reading this because you “don’t want to hear about it right
now,” I want you to really think about what I just wrote.

I was once
that person who continuously avoided those words. Truthfully, I was tired of
reading and hearing about better health, getting into shape, focusing on
fitness, blah blah blah. Whatever. That was not a “gift” to me — a gift was
something that I could see and enjoy, like a big diamond ring or a new sports
car (not that these were ever on my list, but you get the point). But then I
realized that being in better health was the best gift that I could ever
give to myself. Nobody else could give it to me… it was a gift I had to give to
me, from me.

What’s More
Permanent

You see, I
realized that at 300 pounds, when I was morbidly obese, I could give myself
that big diamond ring and the new sports car and be extremely happy about these
gifts. The gift of a fancy ring or car would have been very nice for sure, but
without good health, how long could I expect to enjoy those things? They may
have made me smile for awhile … but then what?

If I
continued to avoid giving myself the gift of better health, would those types
of gifts really have mattered anyways? Oh sure, I could wear the ring and drive
the car, but those were not really the best gifts that I could ever receive.
Those are just things; nice things, yes, but they don’t matter much if bad
health arises. And bad health often leads to more bad health … and the end
result was not any type of “gift” that I was willing to receive, not for a
long, long time.

Because I
treasure my one life, my
good health was a gift that I knew I needed to give to myself. How did I do that?
I began to take care of me by living a healthy lifestyle — eating right and
exercising or walking every single day beginning in January 2001.

No, this gift
that I gave myself wasn’t wrapped or found under any tree … but it’s
appreciated every single day and it allows me to appreciate all the
others gifts given to me by others even more!

GOOD HEALTH:
the BEST GIFT you can GIVE and RECEIVE from yourself. It’s time that you do it,
too! What’s holding you back?

– Jodi Davis is Blue
Cross Blue Shield of Michigan’s walking and healthy living advocate and lost
162 pounds in 16 months and she’s kept it off for over 10 years. How did she do
it? Simply by walking and eating healthier. Read more of Jodi’s posts on
AHealthierMichigan.org.