What is Health?

What is health? What does it mean to be healthy? Does it mean the absence of illness? If no pathogen or anything physically abnormal is detectable in your body, shall we consider it healthy? Or is our health truly more fluid and complex than this definition.
To begin with I believe this severely oversimplifies the daily variation each of us experience in our subjective feelings of well-being. Furthermore, several aspects of a person’s life have to be considered to gain a picture of his or her health. An important aspect is indeed physical health, including the absence of any illness. Although, this is just one reduced aspect of what it means to be a healthy human being. Another aspect that must be considered is one’s mental health, not being limited to the existence of a mental disorder. What is the consistent state of our emotions, thoughts, and psychological responses to the challenges life presents? Can we mentally and emotionally navigate this world of overcoming obstacles? Also, the quality of one’s social relationships and the fulfillment found in them must be considered. Even the development of one’s spiritual inclination or understanding of life will be found in a true definition of health.
Even the knowledge of all these different factors is not enough to have a true picture of someone’s health. We must know and understand that the physical, mental, emotional, social, and spiritual elements of a person all interact and influence each other in ways we are very seldom aware of. It is in this holistic picture of interactions that we gain insight into a person’s true health.
While the World Health Organization defines health as “a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity,” I see it is still a problem in our society that so many people have the attitude that since they are not sick, they are healthy, and therefore complacent. There is always so much room for improvement and growth in many aspects of our lives, and better health because of it!