The definition of the word constitution is generically defined as “the composition of something.” Hmmm. What if I am the something? What is my constitution? This could have many meanings. It could mean what the composition was of my physical body, it could mean what principles that I live my life by and it could mean what I am made of in a esoteric sense. Reflecting on this, I considered how one might actually measure constitution?
I remember when I was young, the game Dungeons and Dragons became popular. You would actually roll a dice to determine your characters, “constitution.” You would then get certain modifiers based on what race your character was or how strong it was, etc. There was a vague sense that constitution had something to do with your vitality. You would derive “hit points”, how much weight you could carry, your stamina and a few other things from your constitution score. How convenient that would be, to have a score board that reported to you what your current score was for your vital force!
Having said that, the Game I played as a child does indicate one very relevant concept. Constitution is not a measure of what you used to be, what you were, or even what you could be. Constitution is the composition of what you are right now. When you are called upon to perform a task, lift a weight, dodge a moving car, climb a flight of stairs, lift your grandchild, get up in the morning and feel good about yourself all of this is predicated upon having a good constitution. It seems that we worry about a lot of things in our lives, anxiety over this, stress over that, however, one things that we should be always worried about is building and maintaining a strong constitution.
If constitution is a composite, meaning a compilation of multiple things then that would lead us down the path of strengthening and improving multiple areas of our lives. Strength, Cardiovascular health, Flexibility, Mental acuity and Spirituality may all be important and necessary components to a healthy constitution. I imagine that it does not take a super human effort in any one category to make improvements, but it does require some effort. A little bit of effort to work on your flexibility is infinitely better then no effort at all. We get stressed out about doing a program, or following a formula when all we need to do is just something.
Amazing how that works. A little something everyday, will magnify your constitution so much more than nothing that you will be astonished and then after a year of consistent behavior you will really scratch your head and wonder why they heck wasn’t I doing this all along? It was so easy! Seriously, add a behavior to improve one aspect of your constitution and keep it up for a long time and just watch what happens. Going from nothing to adequate is really rather easy. Sure, you may not be able to fight Dragons or resist a Wizard casting a Magic Missile but you will certainly be able to move around a lot better and feel good about it too.
Guy Reams
