How would you describe your lifestyle?

Health freak or newbie? Are you a crossfit veteran, or just enrolled at your first gym? Are you Paleo, all-organic or have some other kind of dietary restriction that’s not required by your doctor? Or, perhaps you’re the kind of person who thinks all that is BS, that lifting weights and clean eating are the only way to achieve fitness.

Just like we all have physical differences, not all of us experience health the same way.

Some people can afford all the fanciest gear, meals and supplements, while the rest of us kick it old school with basketball shorts, t-shirts and whole foods.Likewise, a person who diets and exercises all the time can still be miserable, and people who smoke, drink, or have other unhealthy habits can still live long, active lives.

There’s a sense of judgment and animosity among people who share a love of wellness, but disagree on the methodology – this needs to end. In my eyes, the fact that someone is even TRYING to take steps toward being healthy is an achievement.

Not that I’m a hedonist or anything, but I’m willing to admit that I love weed, cheese, and occasionally, the party life – none of which fit into the health industry’s typical persona. And yet, here I am, at a level of physical fitness I never thought I would reach again after my injury. I’m certainly doing better than I was when I entered college, coming off the tail end of some major depression and my health in shambles after over a year of no physical activity whatsoever.

This is a big reason why I re-branded the blog, attempting to take the focus off of me as a “fitness blogger” and refocus on the strategies and experiences that make life feel fulfilling. I still slip up…A LOT…and deal with chronic pain and injuries constantly. Still, I have never given up my goals of becoming an elite athlete and person of professional influence in the cannabis space.

More people than ever are becoming aware of the mind-body connection that allows us to heal and reinvent our bodies over time. The changes you make to yourself always begin on the inside – if you have confidence and find happiness in your lifestyle, then you will reap benefits.

In this fresh, post-awakening world, two options remain when it comes to the fitness lifestyle.

• One: You can label yourself, and attempt to strictly define how others should eat or behave in order to fit the same label as you. Like this blogger who faced backlash from her fans after obsessive veganism led her down a path to disordered eating (she’s doing much better now, and is significantly more famous than before due to embracing a BALANCED lifestyle with open arms).
• Two: You can aim to say yes (within reason) to anything that speaks to your soul and makes you feel vibrant and alive. You can vow to say no to any food, workout or lifestyle that makes you feel anything other than your authentic self. You can give yourself the liberty to try and taste and sample little bits of every lifestyle until you find one that is uniquely you.

Sometimes they will do a news story on an individual who has lived to be over 110 – it’s an outstanding feat of endurance, after all. They’ll ask them what the secret has been to their long life. The answers can be hilarious.

Chain smoker, 112, claims the secret to long life is to be stress free

109-Year-Old Woman: Whiskey Is the Secret to Long Life

115yo Woman Says Her Secret Comes Down To Two Little Rules: Stay Single, Eat 2-3 Raw Eggs Daily.

Some of these old ladies can truly kick it, and they’ve outlived everyone they know. This isn’t to say that you should be playing with IV drugs or lighting up bowls of crack on the weekends. ‘Everything in moderation’ is a good way to describe the healthy person’s mentality.

I have friends that are vegans, celiacs or have other chronic illness, craft beer snobs, couch potatoes, marathoners, ravers, club rats, recovering addicts. We all coexist and enjoy the company of one another, and though there is definitely always a word of encouragement we can throw someone’s way, it’s honestly best to just appreciate the diversity and vibrancy of everyone’s unique personality. Judging or preaching your lifestyle to that person will only weaken the potential friendship that is there.

So health enthusiasts and bloggers alike, let’s all lighten up, commit to being ourselves, support one another, take care of ourselves the best we can, and have a swell time while we’re here in this world.

After all, none of us are making it out alive.