Every now and then I come across someone who uses the way they eat and live, to assert their superiority over others – and is never nice to witness.
Recently I was reading a raw food blog where one of the people posting wrote some pretty harsh criticism of Victoria Boutenko (Green For Life) for being overweight and not being an example of perfect health.
I have to confess that in the past, this type of thinking was also the way I judged whether to heed someone’s advice in regards to health. I would judge the person’s information by the way they looked physically – if that person was walking their talk – “Do I want to do what they do and get the results they are getting?”
And to a point we can use this reasoning – but we lose out when we take the state of the physical body as the only measure of health and value.
People are so much more than just their physical body, and there are SO many more elements to health than just the physical –and we can never know someones internal journey towards health – to judge just the external appearance loses so much of the picture.
For me, a measure of worth is if the person teaching the principles of health has integrity. If they are professing to be the guru with all the answers – it’s my way or the highway – then I run a mile. No matter if their physical body looks perfect – if they believe they have all the answers to health – then they haven’t had life throw them a curve ball just yet.
So to me, people that research and share knowledge designed to empower others without professing that this is the only way, and do so humbly and with integrity are the ones to listen to. Victoria is one of these people. At her lectures recently in Australia, she didn’t proclaim that what she knew was the only way to health – she shared what she has found to be helpful from her research and in her own health journey, and she shared that with the encouragement to try it for yourself, but also to learn to use your own wisdom when it comes to deciding what works for you.
Her choices have led her to be the body shape that she is – but this is not right or wrong – this is who she is at this point in time. If Victoria puts a high priority on sitting at the computer 18 hours a day doing what she loves, and because of this eats late at night and doesn’t exercise much – does that mean she is worth less as a person because she may not fit the “ideal image” of what health should look like??
Does that make her work any less valuable?
If someone does have perfect physical health, fitness and vitality – but is narcissistic, selfish and does nothing to elevate other people or contribute to the betterment of the planet – then is this a worthy role model?
I think we need to get away from judging health based on physical appearance only, and look at the bigger picture and the contribution the person is making to the world.
If someone has a serious illness, yet touches many lives with their courage and love through their suffering – is that life not of value and beauty?
Of course I like to see good health in those that are promoting health teachings – I have seen too many who are not, and I can be very cynical in that regard. But to expect absolute perfection in others is unrealistic, especially if attaining that perfection means that the person does not live the life they love to live.
So rather than choosing to judge, let’s choose compassion and understanding instead – and the world will be a better place for it.
Leisa
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