Health is 
whole. It’s a simple statement. The word health is based on the word whole, but what does it mean?
What do we really mean when we say that health is whole? Is health perfect? No. Is health perfection? No.
The mother duck is much larger than the baby duck, but they are both whole.
The health of the mother duck is whole, and the health of the baby duck is whole.
What if the mother duck is missing a few feathers? What if the mother duck has a crooked neck? What if the baby duck is the runt of the nest? Is their health less than whole?
No. Health is whole. A deficit in the physical attributes of the mother, or of the baby, is not a deficit in their health.
Disability is lack of ability, but it is not a lack of health. Someone with a disability might be much healthier than someone who has no disability. Disability or unhealthiness are independent.
Surely some people are healthier than others. If someone can be more, or less healthy, how can we say “Health is Whole”?
Health is whole. Health includes all aspects of your healthiness. Your total health is 100 percent, whole. Your total health includes your healthiness, your unhealthiness, and even your illnesses. Together they add up to 100 percent of your health. Health is always whole.
No one’s healthiness is perfect. Each person, each mother duck, and each baby duck, has a certain level of healthiness.
Health is whole. The potential for health is 100 percent. But no-one has perfect health. Healthiness is the measure of our healthiness. Everyone has room for improvement in their healthiness.
We might improve our diet, improve our level, type, or frequency of exercise. As humans, we can do more than just exercise our physical bodies, we can also exercise our minds, our spirits and even our community involvements.
What is “room for improvement” in healthiness?
Room for improvement is the inverse of healthiness. Room for improvement is “unhealthiness”. It makes sense.
If you need to quit smoking to ‘improve your healthiness’, your smoking habit is ‘unhealthy’. If you need to eat more vegetables to improve your health, your current diet of vegetables is a measure of unhealthiness.
Unhealthiness is a lack of healthiness – that can be changed.
If you have a disability, a missing arm, leg, or even a finger, you can’t change it. A disability is not ‘unhealthy’. It is simply a physical reality. A disability is not a deficiency of health. Health is whole. The mother duck’s health is whole, with her current levels of healthiness and unhealthiness. If her diet is poor, her healthiness level will drop. If she finds healthier food, her level of healthiness will rise, and her unhealthiness will drop. But her health is always whole.
Health is whole.
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This post is an exploration of the principles in the Healthicine Creed. You can read more about the Healthicine Creed here. The Healthicine Creed is currently in the development stage, and I welcome any input or comments to this post, and to the creed.
to your health, tracy
Tracy is the author of two books about healthicine:
