TRANSCRIPTION 🔗
WEBVTT
00:00:02.879 --> 00:00:04.959
Welcome to Truth in Motion with Dr.
00:00:05.040 --> 00:00:09.199
Jocelyn, where insight, clarity, and wisdom help you thrive.
00:00:09.519 --> 00:00:10.640
Hello everyone.
00:00:10.800 --> 00:00:12.960
I'm so glad you're here today.
00:00:13.279 --> 00:00:17.120
Yesterday we asked, how can we know what we're for?
00:00:17.280 --> 00:00:25.839
We met the thymus, an organ once called useless, until a young researcher discovered that it trains our immune system.
00:00:26.239 --> 00:00:30.239
We saw that purpose is discovered, not invented.
00:00:30.480 --> 00:00:38.640
And we looked at three places to find it the body's design, our own lived experience, and what God has said.
00:00:39.280 --> 00:00:41.280
Today we take the next step.
00:00:41.520 --> 00:00:49.520
If health only makes sense in light of what we're for, then we have to ask, what does well actually look like?
00:00:50.240 --> 00:01:01.280
In the Netherlands, a woman named Mochteld Huber trained as a medical doctor and became a general practitioner, that's a family doctor.
00:01:01.520 --> 00:01:05.519
Then early in her career, she became ill herself.
00:01:05.840 --> 00:01:11.519
For a time, she worked as a doctor in between periods of her own illness.
00:01:11.680 --> 00:01:14.480
And she discovered something that surprised her.
00:01:14.799 --> 00:01:20.400
Her experience as a patient went far beyond anything she had learned as a doctor.
00:01:20.640 --> 00:01:26.719
She went on to work with people who were seriously ill, and she turned her attention to one question.
00:01:27.040 --> 00:01:28.799
What is health really?
00:01:29.280 --> 00:01:34.640
Because many of us know that being well and being free of disease are not the same thing.
00:01:34.879 --> 00:01:44.159
People with serious conditions can be living full, meaningful lives, and people with clean test results can be struggling to get through the day.
00:01:44.400 --> 00:01:49.200
Her question took her straight to the most famous definition of health in the world.
00:01:49.439 --> 00:01:58.239
In 1946, just after the Second World War, the nations that founded the World Health Organization adopted its constitution.
00:01:58.480 --> 00:02:03.359
It came into force in 1948 and it contains this definition.
00:02:03.840 --> 00:02:13.599
Health is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.
00:02:14.400 --> 00:02:16.479
There's something beautiful in that.
00:02:16.639 --> 00:02:20.080
It says health is more than the absence of disease.
00:02:20.319 --> 00:02:22.159
I agree with that completely.
00:02:22.319 --> 00:02:24.879
We talked about it at the end of last week.
00:02:25.120 --> 00:02:28.000
But notice one word, complete.
00:02:28.560 --> 00:02:32.319
Complete physical, mental, and social well-being.
00:02:32.560 --> 00:02:34.960
By that measure, who is healthy?
00:02:35.199 --> 00:02:37.759
A stiff knee in the morning and you're out.
00:02:38.000 --> 00:02:40.319
A hard week of grief and you're out.
00:02:40.560 --> 00:02:42.960
A lonely season and you're out.
00:02:43.120 --> 00:02:44.400
In 2011, Dr.
00:02:44.560 --> 00:02:54.080
Huber and 13 colleagues published a paper in the BMJ, one of the world's leading medical journals, titled, How Should We Define Health?
00:02:54.319 --> 00:03:00.800
They pointed out that the word complete would leave most of us unhealthy most of the time.
00:03:01.039 --> 00:03:02.960
And they offered a different idea.
00:03:03.199 --> 00:03:12.639
Health, they proposed, is the ability to adapt and to self-manage in the face of social, physical, and emotional challenges.
00:03:12.879 --> 00:03:24.080
The ability to adapt, not perfection, not the absence of every problem, the capacity to meet what life brings, respond, and recover.
00:03:25.599 --> 00:03:26.080
Dr.
00:03:26.319 --> 00:03:28.000
Huber didn't stop there.
00:03:28.319 --> 00:03:32.879
She and her team went out and asked people what health meant to them.
00:03:33.120 --> 00:03:41.840
Patients, doctors, policymakers, insurers, citizens, nearly 2,000 people answered their survey.
00:03:42.000 --> 00:03:45.680
They found six areas that people kept coming back to.
00:03:46.080 --> 00:03:58.400
How the body functions, how the mind functions, the spiritual or existential dimension, quality of life, taking part in society, and daily functioning.
00:03:58.639 --> 00:04:00.879
And here's what caught my attention.
00:04:01.120 --> 00:04:04.400
Patients rated all six about equally important.
00:04:04.800 --> 00:04:06.639
They wanted the broad picture.
00:04:06.879 --> 00:04:12.000
Doctors saw health much more narrowly, mostly in terms of the body.
00:04:12.240 --> 00:04:14.240
But there was one more finding.
00:04:14.479 --> 00:04:24.480
Doctors who had a chronic illness themselves rated the spiritual and existential dimension as significantly more important than doctors who didn't.
00:04:24.800 --> 00:04:33.120
That dimension includes meaning, striving towards goals and ideals, having a future to look toward, and acceptance.
00:04:33.439 --> 00:04:37.839
When doctors became patients, purpose suddenly mattered more.
00:04:38.879 --> 00:04:41.040
That's exactly what happened to Dr.
00:04:41.199 --> 00:04:42.800
Huber herself.
00:04:43.120 --> 00:04:45.600
So why does this matter for your health?
00:04:45.839 --> 00:04:51.120
Because the definition we carry decides what we aim for and what we notice.
00:04:51.360 --> 00:04:56.079
If well means perfect, we'll always feel like we're failing.
00:04:56.319 --> 00:04:59.839
Every ache becomes proof that something is wrong with us.
00:05:00.079 --> 00:05:05.600
If well means the tests came back normal, we'll miss what's really going on.
00:05:05.759 --> 00:05:10.800
We'll be told we're fine while we're exhausted, anxious, or not sleeping.
00:05:11.120 --> 00:05:17.120
Or we'll be told we're sick and feel like our life is over when there's
Load full transcript
still so much life to live.
00:05:17.439 --> 00:05:20.240
It also shapes how we treat ourself.
00:05:20.639 --> 00:05:25.360
When well means perfect, every symptom feels like a failure.
00:05:25.519 --> 00:05:28.160
And we either panic or give up.
00:05:28.399 --> 00:05:36.959
When well means the tests are normal, we tend to ignore what our bodies are telling us until something finally shows up on paper.
00:05:37.199 --> 00:05:39.519
Neither one helps us heal.
00:05:39.759 --> 00:05:44.160
But when we measure health against purpose, we get a truer picture.
00:05:44.399 --> 00:05:46.639
We can see real progress.
00:05:47.680 --> 00:05:57.199
Sleeping through the night again, walking to the mailbox, and then around the block, feeling like ourselves again, and we know what we're healing toward.
00:05:57.439 --> 00:05:59.199
So here's where I stand.
00:05:59.439 --> 00:06:03.600
I believe health only makes sense in light of what we're for.
00:06:03.839 --> 00:06:09.120
We can't judge whether anything is working well until we know what it's for.
00:06:09.360 --> 00:06:12.240
The same is true of a body and of a life.
00:06:12.480 --> 00:06:14.639
So what does well look like?
00:06:14.879 --> 00:06:18.959
I believe it comes down to one word: adaptability.
00:06:19.279 --> 00:06:23.120
A well body isn't one that never meets a challenge.
00:06:23.360 --> 00:06:25.199
It's one that can respond.
00:06:25.519 --> 00:06:30.079
When you climb the stairs, your heart speeds up, and when you rest, it settles.
00:06:30.319 --> 00:06:33.040
On a hot day you sweat and you cool down.
00:06:33.279 --> 00:06:35.839
When you cut your finger, it closes.
00:06:36.160 --> 00:06:40.959
When a stressful week ends, your sleep comes back and your appetite returns.
00:06:41.199 --> 00:06:42.800
That's adaptation.
00:06:44.399 --> 00:06:48.720
Meeting what life brings, then finding your balance again.
00:06:49.040 --> 00:06:52.319
Mostly without any help from somebody like me.
00:06:53.360 --> 00:06:55.920
And adaptation has purpose.
00:06:56.160 --> 00:07:26.240
It keeps us able to do what we were made for, to love and be loved, to work and serve, to create, to play and to laugh, to be still, to wonder and to pray, to be present to the people in front of us, and to do the things that make us strong, moving our bodies, resting deeply, eating real food, spending time outdoors, and staying close to the people who lift us up.
00:07:26.480 --> 00:07:28.079
Those aren't extras.
00:07:28.319 --> 00:07:32.959
They're what makes a life good, and they're part of what we were made for.
00:07:33.279 --> 00:07:39.199
Well is a body that can adapt so a life can keep moving towards its purpose.
00:07:39.519 --> 00:07:41.920
None of that requires perfection.
00:07:42.240 --> 00:07:46.720
A person with a chronic condition can be growing more well every month.
00:07:46.959 --> 00:07:51.199
A person with perfect lab numbers can be quietly unwell.
00:07:51.519 --> 00:07:52.879
Picture two people.
00:07:53.360 --> 00:07:56.560
One is a man in his 60s with diabetes.
00:07:56.800 --> 00:08:07.600
He's learned what his body needs, he sleeps well, walks every morning, keeps his blood sugar steady, and spends his afternoons building furniture for his grandchildren.
00:08:07.920 --> 00:08:20.800
The other is a woman in her 30s, whose every test comes back normal, but she wakes up exhausted, gets sick every few weeks, and feels like she's barely holding her life together.
00:08:21.360 --> 00:08:23.759
On paper, he's the sick one.
00:08:24.000 --> 00:08:25.839
But which of them is more well?
00:08:26.079 --> 00:08:31.759
Which of them is better able to adapt, recover, and do what they were made for?
00:08:32.000 --> 00:08:37.279
That's the question a purpose-centered picture of health lets us ask.
00:08:37.519 --> 00:08:41.519
Now, the ability to adapt and recover might sound soft.
00:08:41.679 --> 00:08:42.320
It isn't.
00:08:42.480 --> 00:08:43.679
It can be measured.
00:08:43.919 --> 00:08:46.720
When you exercise hard, your heart speeds up.
00:08:46.960 --> 00:08:50.799
When you stop, a healthy heart slows back down quickly.
00:08:51.039 --> 00:08:56.399
That drop in the first minute after you stop is called heart rate recovery.
00:08:56.639 --> 00:09:06.879
In 1999, the New England Journal of Medicine published a study of 2,428 adults who took an exercise stress test.
00:09:07.120 --> 00:09:12.960
Researchers checked how much each person's heart rate dropped in the first minute after they stopped.
00:09:13.200 --> 00:09:16.799
Then they followed everyone for six years.
00:09:17.039 --> 00:09:20.320
About one in four had a slow recovery.
00:09:20.480 --> 00:09:25.120
Their heart rate dropped 12 beats per minute or less in the first minute.
00:09:25.440 --> 00:09:36.000
Over the six years, about 19% of the slow recoverers died, compared with about 5% of those whose hearts recovered normally.
00:09:36.399 --> 00:09:52.639
Even after the researchers accounted for age, sex, medications, heart disease, standard risk factors, and how hard each person could exercise, a slow recovery still meant about twice the risk of dying.
00:09:52.879 --> 00:09:54.559
Think about what that means.
00:09:54.799 --> 00:09:59.759
It wasn't how fast the heart could go, it was how well it could come back.
00:10:00.159 --> 00:10:04.799
The ability to recover is health, and the body shows it.
00:10:05.120 --> 00:10:07.360
You can watch this in your own body.
00:10:07.600 --> 00:10:15.279
Climb a flight of stairs at a good pace, feel your heartbeat, then rest and notice how long it takes to settle.
00:10:15.519 --> 00:10:19.039
Watch that over the coming months as you care for yourself.
00:10:19.279 --> 00:10:23.840
It's a small, honest window into how well your body adapts.
00:10:24.080 --> 00:10:29.279
This is how Chinese medicine or East Asian medicine has always looked at health.
00:10:29.440 --> 00:10:36.320
It doesn't wait for a disease to show up on a test, it watches how the whole person is functioning.
00:10:37.120 --> 00:10:44.639
So when I'm working with someone, I'm paying attention to the everyday signs of how well the body is adapting and regulating.
00:10:44.879 --> 00:10:46.159
How are you sleeping?
00:10:46.399 --> 00:10:47.759
How's your digestion?
00:10:48.000 --> 00:10:50.080
How's your energy throughout the day?
00:10:50.320 --> 00:10:53.919
How do you handle stress and how quickly do you come back from it?
00:10:54.159 --> 00:10:56.639
What's your emotional weather been like?
00:10:56.960 --> 00:11:04.320
Those everyday functions are the body's report card, and they often change long before a lab test ever would.
00:11:04.720 --> 00:11:10.639
When they improve, that's health returning, even if a diagnosis is still on the chart.
00:11:10.799 --> 00:11:17.279
And when they slip, that's the body telling us something early, even if every test is normal.
00:11:17.519 --> 00:11:20.559
There's an old word that holds all of this together.
00:11:20.720 --> 00:11:22.960
It's the Hebrew word shalom.
00:11:23.679 --> 00:11:27.840
We usually translate it as peace, but it's much bigger than that.
00:11:28.080 --> 00:11:37.440
Its root means to be complete, and the word carries the sense of soundness, safety, welfare, and health.
00:11:37.759 --> 00:11:40.720
Shalom is a life in right order.
00:11:41.039 --> 00:11:47.519
Body, soul, relationships, and our walk with God all in their proper place.
00:11:48.240 --> 00:11:52.639
And the beautiful thing is shalom isn't the absence of trouble.
00:11:52.879 --> 00:11:55.919
It's being in right order in the middle of it.
00:11:56.159 --> 00:12:00.960
The Apostle John wrote a short letter to a friend and he opened it this way.
00:12:01.279 --> 00:12:09.120
Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health as it goes well with your soul.
00:12:09.440 --> 00:12:11.840
Body and soul in the same breath.
00:12:12.080 --> 00:12:16.799
And Jesus said, I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
00:12:17.120 --> 00:12:18.399
Abundant life.
00:12:18.639 --> 00:12:20.879
That's what I believe we were made for.
00:12:21.120 --> 00:12:25.200
Not a life with nothing wrong, but a life that is full.
00:12:25.440 --> 00:12:31.519
Whatever your faith, I invite you to consider whether your picture of health has been too small.
00:12:32.080 --> 00:12:35.120
So here's one question to carry with you today.
00:12:35.440 --> 00:12:38.559
If I were well, what would I be doing?
00:12:39.519 --> 00:12:43.519
Not what would be gone, but what would you be doing?
00:12:43.759 --> 00:12:45.200
Who would you be with?
00:12:45.360 --> 00:12:47.600
What would you have the energy for?
00:12:48.000 --> 00:12:51.840
Let your answer be specific and let it be yours.
00:12:52.159 --> 00:13:02.240
Well for a 20-year-old athlete looks different from well for a new mother, and different again for a 90-year-old who wants to keep living in her own home.
00:13:02.480 --> 00:13:04.799
There's no one standard picture.
00:13:05.039 --> 00:13:09.360
There's your picture, shaped by what you're here to do.
00:13:09.679 --> 00:13:12.000
Let your answer be specific.
00:13:12.320 --> 00:13:22.559
It might be getting down on the floor with your grandchildren, finishing a project you set aside, singing again, or simply waking up glad to start the day.
00:13:22.879 --> 00:13:31.840
That picture is your target, and every step toward it counts as health returning, whether or not a test ever shows it.
00:13:32.639 --> 00:13:36.480
Today we asked what being well really looks like.
00:13:36.720 --> 00:13:37.440
We met Dr.
00:13:37.600 --> 00:13:44.080
Machheld Huber, a family doctor whose own illness taught her more than her medical training ever had.
00:13:44.480 --> 00:13:52.720
We saw that the famous definition of health asks for complete well-being, a standard that would leave most of us out.
00:13:53.200 --> 00:13:55.039
We heard a better idea.
00:13:55.279 --> 00:13:58.960
Health as the ability to adapt and to self-manage.
00:13:59.200 --> 00:14:06.480
We saw that patients want the whole picture, and that when doctors became patients, purpose mattered more.
00:14:06.799 --> 00:14:12.080
We saw that the ability to recover can be measured one heartbeat at a time.
00:14:12.320 --> 00:14:21.440
And we saw that health is measured against what we're for: a body that can adapt so a life can keep moving toward its purpose.
00:14:21.679 --> 00:14:25.200
Not perfection, abundant life.
00:14:25.519 --> 00:14:34.240
Tomorrow we look at what happens when we live with the grain of how we were made and what happens when we push against it.
00:14:34.720 --> 00:14:37.440
Meet you there every step of the way.
00:14:37.600 --> 00:14:39.120
Keep the conversation going.
00:14:39.279 --> 00:14:43.759
Find your next steps in notes from a fellow traveler, my blog.