Physical Circle of Self

The Physical Circle of Self refers to one's physicality.  In an application sense it means is your body physically healthy and capable to handle the rigors of a physical world?  Can you lift, bend, stretch, move, react, and balance in a manner that suits your activities' necessity. 

Also, are you generally well or ill?  
Do you get or feel sick frequently?  
Do you have a chronic disease?  
Do you manage that disease or does it hinder your daily life?  
Do you take daily steps toward making your body healthier like eating good foods and getting regular exercise, or do you have more of a tendency to eat inflammatory or high energy foods that could get lost in storage?
Do you have comfortable digestion?
Do you take daily medications or pain killers?  
Are you in recurring or constant pain?...

All of these questions are necessary to ask in order to evaluate one's physical health and happiness.

But beyond all that The Physical Circle of Self refers to one's perceptions regarding one's own physicality:

• Do you believe you are physically able?
• Do normal human physical activities like walking, carrying or lunging scare you?
• Are you comfortable looking in the mirror? (This question can cross through all circles in one form or another)
• Are you comfortable in your clothing?
• Are you comfortable in your skin?
• Do you feel attractive?
• Do you feel coordinated?

The key to the Circle Theory and the Gradient Theory is that not all answers to these questions need be positive in order to live a happy, healthy life.  Indeed the answer to some of these questions for some people may be flat out "No way!"  But in that case, one's identity in another area of the Circle of Health & Happiness must be equally committed toward the positive in order to balance out the perceived negative.

If you were born with a physical disability, for instance, a balanced self would require a strong sense of personal self worth in the Emotional Circle, for instance, or possibly a strong ability to communicate in the Social Circle.

The key to ultimate physical health is twofold:

1) Maintain physicality enough through life to successfully handle the physical rigors you impart upon yourself.

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2) Avoid exceeding the necessary amount of physical activity lest you encourage excessive tissue damage and deterioration such that your body is unable to recover.

I'll cover the various facets of physical health more in depth in the future, but for now, examine your life and ask yourself these questions I've posed.  On a scale of 1 to 10, how satisfied are you with your overall physical health?