Will Durant summarized Aristotle’s, The Nicomachean Ethics, with six words. “We are what we repeatedly do.”
Aristotle was obsessed with the most foundational questions about humans for the majority of his life, and it seems to me that he wanted to know the answer to this question: What does the ideal life for a human being look like? If there even is such a thing?
Will Durant’s summary of Aristotle’s work on ethics suggests that there is an intrinsic relationship between the kind of person someone is and the kind of behaviors they continually engage in.
This makes perfect sense. It’s why we have job titles that imply a specific work to be done that is attributed to that title. It is why we label relationships; so that those within the relationship might act appropriate to the behavior required to uphold it. What does this have to do with becoming healthy?
When we desire to become healthier people, we are not only longing to be doing something new or different, but we are also desiring to become the kind of person who does those behaviors consistently over time. What makes a healthy person healthy? They engage in exercise, healthy eating habits, proper sleep, and do it for a long period of time; this behavior fits underneath the label of being “healthy.” A title without obligatory action doesn’t mean anything at all.
This is important because when we say, “I desire to be healthier,” we need to understand what that really means. Behavior is one dimensional; over time it will change who you are. This applies not only to the action itself, but how the action is engaged in. This is why it is so crucially important to understand your motivations behind pursuing healthy change. (A healthy behavior can be done in an unhealthy way; I list many ways in my previous articles)
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When I was 20 years old I would never eat ice cream, nor cake, nor anything that I could qualify as nutritionally unhealthy. I would attend birthday parties, graduation parties, meals out with family, and constantly beguiled by “healthy decisions.” When, in truth, I was ultra-restrictive and enjoyed the sense of control over my life. It had very little to do with health.
I did this over and over again, and it led to me being restrictive in every area of my life. (We are what we repeatedly do) I wouldn’t sacrifice my bed time for social interaction, I wouldn’t sacrifice a workout even if my body was screaming for rest, and I would never ever give myself a break from my oppressive internal regiment. I began to be miserable.
I am not 27 and I take my two-year-old son out for ice cream once a week; it is one of the best parts of my week.
I used to think that food was one dimensional, but I was undeniably wrong.
Celebrating, or spending time with loved ones and eating dessert might be a truly joyful experience; is this not a part of being a healthy person? Should ingratiating yourself to healthy habits be at the expense of joy? Or should striving to be healthy have something to do with joy? (It doesn’t mean being really disciplined for a time is wrong; sometimes it is exactly what is needed) However, I do think that if we repeatedly restrict ourselves, it begins to bleed into other areas of our life.
If we are not careful we will become quite unhealthy while doing “healthy” things.
Lee Ramsey has a passion for fitness as a way to help people grow and change into more adaptable, capable and resilient versions of themselves. He is owner of Sanctify Fitness in Covington and a regular fitness columnist for the NKyTribune.