Comfort, Joy, and Health for the Coming Year

A few days ago, we asked and you answered: what should we wish for in the coming year? We had no idea what to expect but you came through with a delightful range of perspectives on comfort, joy, and health from all around the world.

Five themes were evident. You can see them on the right in the word cloud you created.

1. Good Health means many different things to different people. Some of you are looking for a healthy pregnancy. Others are looking to protect the health of yourselves and your families after the blessings of a successful pregnancy. For others, overcoming longstanding health challenges is the goal. In the midst of personal challenges, many of you brought forward wishes for health equity: “A world where your ZIP code does not determine your health.”

2. Weight concerns were not surprising, since we spend so much time addressing the challenge of obesity. But those concerns are clearly vastly different for different people. Maintaining, losing, accepting, preventing, and caring for others are some of the diverse themes that weave through your weight-related wishes for the coming year.

3. More. You told us you want more from life: more progress, peace, energy, mindfulness, exercise, sleep, and more helpful public policies.

4. Hope is an overarching theme that brings us back to your own goals as well as your hopes for a better, more respectful world.

5. Less shaming, restricting, scolding, stress, and policies that diminsh people rather than empower them.

Thank you. Thanks for inspiring ConscienHealth with your ideas, your aspirations, your encouragement, and your good work. Thank you for giving us reason to believe that the year ahead will be better than this year we are completing.

Christmas Morning, photograph © Ted Kyle

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December 25, 2016