"He needs bypass surgery as soon as possible."

Those words changed my family when we heard them. My dad, barely in his sixties, was in real danger of a fatal heart attack without immediate and drastic surgical intervention. After recovering from the invasive surgery, he made real changes in his life and lived well beyond expected rates, enjoying another 2 decades. He saw his adult kids settle into their lives. He continued deep and meaningful relationships with extended family and friends, and held a grandson in his arms.

As I creep closer to that age, I'm more and more mindful of health and the desire to live a vital life. I’m making changes in what I eat, how I move, and how I approach each day. I want a healthy heart, and that requires a healthy diet and exercise. Health isn't one-dimensional, though. Our spiritual and emotional well-being largely impact us, especially our hearts.

I've cited statistics and linked articles many times before about the importance of spiritual and emotional well-being on our physical health. A quick Google search will give you that information if you want to see it again. So, as I adapt my diet and exercise, I'm also leaning into gratitude and meditation. I'm not putting off difficult conversations. I'm tending to my emotions, listening to what they tell me, and processing them appropriately.

Living well entails gratitude and joy as well as freedom of movement. My doctor told me I wouldn’t experience meaningful or lasting change unless I changed what I do every day. The truth of that still lingers with me. Lasting change doesn’t happen all at once, it grows from the quiet choices we make in ordinary moments. Every habit becomes a vote for the kind of life we want to live. That wisdom feels as spiritual as it does physical. Faith, too, grows from practice. The way we breathe, forgive, notice beauty, and return again to gratitude form and shape our lives and our experience of it. Our habits become our prayers.

My wish for you this week, Reader, is that you’ll notice the quiet patterns shaping your days. May you find joy in small, faithful choices, and may each act of care; each breath, each moment of gratitude become a prayer that strengthens your body, steadies your spirit, and fills your life with vitality. That's the fiLLLed life.

Live a fiLLLed life, Melissa ​