The topic of wellbeing is nuanced and full of opinions.
Ask ten people, and each would give you a unique take on what 'wellbeing' is and how we can best go about optimizing it.
But what if our current understandings of it are a bit limited and short-sighted? What if this is one area of our lives, which we should look at more carefully?
Today, we'll go over wellbeing and how sports could be one of the most important habits we need to optimize it.
Wellbeing – Could We Be Asking The Wrong Question?
As humans, we often like to oversimplify things – that makes complex subjects easier to grasp and deal with. But, when it comes to topics like wellbeing and optimizing it, we could be doing a disservice to ourselves.
What if our wellbeing isn't dependent on one thing, but on many? What if we don't have to focus on that one single thing that will elevate us?
What if our wellbeing is like a puzzle that needs all sorts of pieces? And bear with me on this one:
What if sports (and physical activity, in general) is the one thing that helps put the pieces together?
How Sports Improve Our Wellbeing
It's no secret that physical activity is vital for us. Countless research papers have all pointed at this simple fact:
Physically active people live longer, do better in life, have fewer health concerns, and are happier and more optimistic.
There is so much data on it, that we couldn't argue this point, even if we tried. But what makes sports so beneficial for us?
Well, this isn't easy to answer, and you're free to ponder this question yourself. But, we believe that exercise (be it combat sports or something else) is a keystone habit. Once we establish that, we tend to become interested in many other positive habits.
For example, if you exercise regularly, you're also more likely to start eating more healthily – after all, you don't want that effort to go to waste. If you do these two things, you're also more likely to look for other positive habits, such as stretching, meditating, sleeping for six to eight hours, and similar. As a whole, you become more mindful of your lifestyle and start looking for more and more ways to elevate yourself.
It's like a domino effect – one piece knocks down the next, which knocks down the one after, and we create a chain reaction of positive improvements that elevate our health and wellbeing.