The Total Sum Of Us (because man cannot exist on chocolate mousse alone).

Aristotle once said, ‘The Whole is Greater Than the Sum of its Parts’. When it comes to us humans, I am not sure I agree with the old guy. I think that is exactly what most of us are. The Sum of Our Parts. Take last night for example – there I am around 8.30pm, uncharacteristically knee-deep in dark chocolate mousse, that frankly has no right to be so disgustingly good. This brief orgy of joy sadly came to an end far too soon and was replaced by the familiar flicker of guilt. The flicker became a flame and within moments all my 8 glasses of water a day, thrice weekly namaste sessions and good nutritional choices had been burnt to a dark chocolate coated crisp.

But, truth is – they hadn’t really. The body we build for ourselves – be it a temple or a more modest semi-detatched dwelling – is not built on one bowl of chocolate mousse alone. It is the accumulation of a whole series of choices – from what we decide to eat or drink, to how often and hard we move it, how rested it is at night, how stressed we let ourselves get, every vegetable we say yes to and every second helping that we don’t. How much we hunch it, pollute it, nuture it  – all of it adds up, right down to the strength of SPF we choose (or don’t). For the past week my body has been less temple, more slum – heavily populated with pizza, red wine and failed intentions. It has been spectacularly foliage free. A veritable health hazard. But today is a brand new day -so I dragged my shiraz filled booty back to the gym – because 1 week of self indulgence does not need to be the total sum of me.

Same goes for the rest of our lives. We are the sum of all of the things that we do. Every kind word, every bitchy thought, every effort at work, each shag at night. These acts are the things that will define our success – be that in the bedroom or the boardroom. As a friend, colleague, parent or partner. Everything we do – no matter how large or small – matters. As long as we can keep the scales tipping, for the most part, in our favour, we will keep moving in the right direction. And if we get sidetracked along the way, be it with a bad relationship or a bowl of insanely good mousse, we can take comfort that we are the sum of ALL of our parts and not just the ones that might be temporarily faulty.

This Get Happier Post is brought to you by someone who is re-building her semi-detached dwelling. One good intention at a time.