Sep 30, 2018
Health Challenge of 2018
Staying healthy shouldn't be so difficult. It is good for us, so everyone should want to look after themselves. Unfortunately, this isn't the case. Often because exercise and eating right are only for ourselves we lose motivation to do it every day. Japan wants people to do better, which I think is great. So they are giving out homework just like my girls get at school. My girls brought home this flyer.
2018 Health challenge
Japan loves challenges, stamp rallies and homework. This is pretty much all those rolled into one. And if you are diligent enough to send in the application postcard and completion postcard then you can get a prize. The flyer doesn't say exactly what the prize is, but doesn't that make it all the more interesting? Gives a bit of surprise to what is essentially a homework assignment. This challenge is through the Gunma board of education. The feeling of homework aspect aside, I think it is a really great idea. That little extra push of motivation is always good.
I think the best part of this assignment, however, is the requirement to choose a course.
There are six different courses.
1 Exercise : walking, stretching, radio exercises, etc
2 Diet : low sodium,
3 Dental hygiene : brush, floss everyday, etc
4 Smoking/ alcohol : quit smoking, drink less, smoke less, etc
5 (I cant read the kanji) : going to bed early waking early, drinking water, etc
6 Original : smile trees times a day, go outside, etc
The examples they give are all things mst people should already be doing daily anyway. As a person who suffers from depression, however, I know that these things can become really hard to do when you just don't have the mental energy to even contemplate doing them. I also realize this challenge is highly likely marketed towards the elderly, but anyone can benefit from something like this. I mean, course eight is pretty much just daily self-care. You could choose to just do something fun for yourself every day and that would cover it.
The challenge itself is merely remembering to check in on yourself every day. The instructions even say to add a circle even if you didn't get around to doing your one daily challenge. This thing is all about motivation and mental health even if it is mostly talking about physical health. I swear if they gave out gold stars as the prize, a better gift couldn't be given.
4 Comments
TonetoEdo
on Sep 30
This is a clever way to get people to think about self care by providing them something, or someone, to be accountable to. It's easy to neglect yourself when you're running around after children, as parents and grandparents do. Or looking after elders. My thing is fretting over my partner who doesn't get enough exercise or sleep. We do our best to encourage each other to look after ourselves. But I can imagine single people, or elderly people, may really benefit from this kind of accounting.
helloalissa
on Oct 2
Course 5: kenkou kanri (health management). I like the example in Course six: talk to someone outside of your family members once a day. This is super cute and reminds me of Sober October, which I just heard about. I'm a fan of monthly challenges for making small positive changes and this makes it really easy. Gold stars to you for sharing!
edthethe
on Oct 6
@TonetoEdo I wish they had this in the middle of winter. That's my hardest time here. I always need encouragement to get out the door then.
edthethe
on Oct 6
@helloalissa thanks for the Japanese help! More gold stars!