Whatever Floats Your Boat

Have you ever heard the expression "Whatever floats your boat?" Looking around, you can see that there are many styles of boats available when it comes to rowing, sailing, or other means of maneuvering through health and life. Are all of them for you? No. Are some of them applicable to you? Yes.

How can you tell the difference?

We live in an age where you can flip on the T.V. and see commercials or shows plugging hundreds of ways to exercise and shed pounds. As the supplement industry grows, there are huge assortments of pills, sprays, tinctures, and lozenges to choose from. On the other end of the spectrum, we have the latest and greatest pharmaceutical drugs that come out to treat conditions such as dry eyes or weak bones.

Your healthcare provider may tell you to get some strange-sounding labs done, to drink 8 glasses of water a day, and then send you on your way to host of specialists. Or your acupuncturist may order 10 cupping sessions. Your chiropractor wants to see you regularly for low back adjustments. Your friend tells you to visit a spiritual guru who has recently helped her heal from past blockages. And your boss wants you to attend a spiritual business seminar to grow in your sales potential. Did you even know those existed?

Male or female health magazines remind you not to forget daily abdominal crunches, to drink different colored smoothies, and to meditate for at least 10 minutes a day (not to mention doing all this while wearing the latest styles and fashions.) Your homeopath wants to check in with you again on your energetic shifts. Your dentist sends you a postcard about your next cleaning.

"Yikes!" you say. "I get the point. And yet I feel inundated with all this sometimes. When do all the messages end?" The messages don't end. They're always waiting there for you, trying to sell a message, product, or service that solves your problems. Some can genuinely help you on your unique journey, others can't, and still others will set you back.

It becomes important in a consumer-based health society to be able to say "Whatever floats your boat" to some of those invitations and "Yes" to others that really do float your boat or that you want to try out.

What works for everyone else won't always work for you, and sometimes you don't want to find that out after you've spent a lot of time, energy, and money attempting everything that everyone's tried out.

So, what's the answer? Sign up for muscle testing sessions to see if something resonates with you? Nah, let's ditch that idea as a go-to. Instead, look at yourself and at what's being offered. Feel free to be honest with what you really think in your own head, even while experimenting and trying out new things once in a while.

If you don't like something you can say, "Talk to the hand." No guilt included. Believe it or not, adults live in a state of peer pressure just as much as kids and teenagers do. Often, when people are grabbing for answers inside new messages, products, services, or other external sources, they may be scared and want others to join them (jump on their boat) for reassurance. It's okay to recognize when this is happening.

Other times, something out there may naturally resonate with you, whether others around you are partaking or not. Not everything will float your boat and that's okay. The pieces of the puzzle that make up your true health and desired lifestyle come first and foremost from within you. Nothing out there offers an answer that looms larger than that. Inside that picture, if you look with a discerning eye, you'll find things that will help nudge you toward getting where you want to go.
So, what (really) floats your boat lately?