Two weeks ago I woke up with a slight back pain. I thought I must have slept crookedly, or strained myself somehow the previous day. Whatever the reason was, the ache wasn’t going away. By mid-morning it was a slow throbbing, excruciating pain.

Somehow I managed to drive myself to the doctor and after a series of questions and tests, the radiologist found the problem. Now, without going into all the detail, the long and the short of it is, I need to have surgery.

All this got me thinking about something that we all too often take for granted, especially when we’re young, and that is our health.

From an early age I’ve always been interested in health. In the eighties, I was a “Fit for Life” advocate. In the nineties I became 100% vegetarian. Fitness and taking care of myself physically has always been part of my daily regime. Then “this” happens and I wonder why? The doctors have no answers! And nor do I, but I do know this:

Improving our health and wellbeing is not only about working out and eating in, its also about our emotional health and fitness, which means working out internally and taking in elevating knowledge and values.

I’ve always believed that there is an intimate connection between our mind and body. Our physical health affects our clarity and emotional wellbeing. So too our emotions and attitudes affect our physical condition. It is therefore crucial to our wellbeing that we take care, not only physically, but emotionally as well.

So I see this hospital visit and recovery period as an opportunity for reading and reflection, because in order to improve ourselves, we need to give ourselves time to reflect, recharge and regenerate. And I believe that if we really want to, we can achieve this every day of our lives just by tweaking our habits.

If you’re able to get up half an hour earlier than normal and go to bed half an hour earlier than you’re use to, then you create the best time of the day to work on yourself. First thing in the morning is when everything, including your mind, is quiet. It is the prime time for reading and reflection. It is the time when you will achieve your best results.

During this precious time, you do nothing but work on yourself. This is not a time for paying bills, or catching up on other activities. This time is your time. So start by fixing an uplifting goal. Something inspiring that you aspire to reach. Something that makes you spring out of bed, looking forward to the day that lies ahead.

Then ask yourself those important questions like, “What am I doing?” “Where am I going?” “If I continue this way, where will I end up?”

Also, fundamental questions like, “Why was I affected by what that person said about me?” “Why do I feel the need to put my foot on the accelerator every time someone wants to overtake?” 

When you start, you’ll find that there are many questions you can think about. A friend of mine, Jacqui Boardman, asked a group these questions: “If you didn’t have to work in order to pay the bills, what would you choose to do with your time?” And, “If you could learn anything you wanted, with no fees for tuition, lessons, equipment or books, what would you do?”

Questioning life, reading inspiring books and reflecting on life and what we have read amounts to having, at our fingertips, a powerful tool that we can use to transform our life.

If I had a wish, then I would wish this for you:

Stop all your rushing about and give yourself the gift of time. Allow yourself half an hour, and slowly work your way up to one hour, a day to read something inspiring, something uplifting and reflect upon it. It’s the reflection that transforms. See how what you have read applies to your life. See how it applies to others in your life. Work on improving yourself, because this world doesn’t need our help. It is perfectly fine without us. It’s we who need our help.