Health as a Team Sport

Written by Nikki Lee

When I was a child my parents were always there to take care of me. They sat with me when I couldn’t sleep, held me when I got hurt, gave me medicine when I was sick. I could always turn to them for comfort.

As an adult, I live almost a thousand miles away from them. It’s easy to feel like I’m on my own. When I’m sick, I’m the one who has to tell my boss, go to the store for medicine, prepare my food.

Fall is just setting in and I’ve come down with the worst stomach flu I’ve had since I was eleven. Jessi brings Gatorade and ginger ale to my apartment, steadfastly refusing payment.

I’m lucky not to be truly stranded. As we stumble our way through adulthood, my friends and I lean on one another. We bring over warm meals, forward along job opportunities, listen sympathetically over frozen yogurt.

I’m fresh out of college, unemployed and in the throes of depression. Ellen puts my name on a lease so that I’ll move out of my parents’ house, drags me to social events, posts my resume on career sites.

As much as being an adult means taking care of yourself, we’re so much better off when we look after one another. Sometimes encouragement is all it takes. Other times, the support is a little more literal.

I hit a crack in the road and go over my handlebars, waking up in an ambulance. Jane messages me on Twitter, telling me to rest and avoid computers so that I heal faster. Andrea spends most of her weekend at my house, reading text messages and downloading podcasts for me so that I don’t strain my eyes looking at my phone screen.

The simple truth is that health is hard work. It takes dedication, to both your mind and body. Especially when you have a history of mental health problems. Some people have bad knees. Some people have asthma. Some people have depression, or anxiety, or bipolar disorder. The mental and physical are not easily separated — one of the first things any good mental health professional will prescribe is routine exercise.

Jeffrey, who is even less of a morning person than I am, gets up at 7:15am three times a week to work out with me. He hasn’t yet missed a day.

Working out consistently is hard enough when you’re feeling fine — it’s even more of an uphill battle when your mind is in shambles. Having a dedicated exercise buddy makes it so much easier to scale that mountain. While you still have to do all the physical work, you can rely on them to prop you up mentally. You’ll carry each other to the top. Sometimes it’s even fun.

Catie meets me after work twice a week to bike. She doesn’t complain when I push our pace, racing to the top of the lake, and says nothing when I struggle my way back home. We split a pack of energy chews and plan a weekend ride.

We’re all affected by the people around us, whether or not we want to be. The best we can do is try to make that erstwhile tribe as resilient as possible. Supporting one another creates a network of good health — making the road just a little bit smoother for all of us.