What is Finding our Form?
Hi, I’m Chris, and welcome to the home of ‘Finding Your Best Form’.
I started this website back in 2018 as an experiment in writing and self discovery, whilst dealing with some extremely challenging and mysterious health issues. What started out as bit of self-interested fun morphed into something more grandiose. These writings are an ongoing record of how I’ve fought to become a better human being, as I seek to ‘find my best form‘.
What do I mean by ‘form’? It’s quite simple; when a race horse is running well, and winning races, it’s said to have great form. Physically and mentally the horse is at the top of its game. An unfit or unhappy horse is unlikely to win races. This analogy can easily be applied to us homo sapiens. To win at life we need to be on top of our game, physically and mentally.
The previous incarnation of this site was called ‘redesigning my best self’, a title that I put little thought into, but ultimately, accurately reflected the aim of the blog at the time. As I look back to the person I was when I first started writing, I was neither physically or mentally strong, for a multitude of reasons, some of which I delved into my early exploratory writing. Through the process of writing, thinking, and eventually discussing the topics I chose, I have found some answers as to why I was not doing so well. It was a hugely challenging, yet beneficial time.
As time went on , and the more I delved into the subject of self-improvement, I found myself increasingly uncomfortable with the title of the blog. I came to realise that redesigning my best self was less about me, and more about what I could offer to the world, and by world, I mean you. There is only so much satisfaction and enjoyment that can be obtained from the self, and whilst it is true that I have learnt to thrive on my own and enjoy the solitude, it has become all too apparent that, like many of us, I do better in the company of others. The big shift here is that in the past I used other people to feel good, to feel entertained, to feel whole. With retrospect I believe this is what they call narcissism. When confronted with my own company I struggled; I felt twitchy, lonely, and incomplete. Nowadays I strive to approach life as what I can give, not what I can take, although I have to admit am not always successful. Old habits die hard.
Today, I continue to write, but no longer just for myself. As I’ve uncovered answers to the questions I found myself being posed, both in the realms of health and humanity, my desire to share this wisdom has increased. I have become obsessed with the potential threats that living in this modern world present. We live in an incredibly interesting time – few of the challenges that our ancestors had to overcome still exist. Billions of us do not worry about where our next meal is coming from, or whether a predator is about to attack us, or freezing in the cold. In the place of the old threats, the ones which we have biologically evolved to handle, we find new obstacles, new stressors and new worries. We live in the ‘Information Age’, and there is no denying that we are surrounded by advice and opinons on how to manage these problems, from both self-proclaimed and board-certified experts. You only have to read the health section of the Daily Mail to realise that much of the advice we hear is contradictory. No wonder so many people are confused, worried, sick and depressed. I get it. It is hard to make sense of what is right and what is wrong, and where the line between the two ends of the spectrum resides. It says much that many of so-called experts in health are themselves in poor physical condition.
With this blog I hope I can offer some guidance. I am not a doctor, a medical researcher or a spiritual guru, I am just a regular guy, who has faced some challenges, physical and mental, and found solace in writing about them. The most common feedback I receive on my writing is that regular people, like you and me, find my prose relatable. It has become apparent that this is my strength, and that is what I have to offer. There is no denying that I have become obsessed with health as my own physical well-being collapsed between 2016 and 2019. In the face of this, and after failing to find help or answers from the many medical doctors I consulted with, I have invested hundreds, if not thousands of hours into researching human health, and what it means to thrive. And now, with my ability to write, the knowledge I have accumulated, and the motivation I have found to help people, I am no longer solely focused on my best self, I wish for all of us to be our best selves, to FIND OUR BEST FORM.
Ironically, I am now something of a self-proclaimed expert on environmental and dietary toxins, just from looking into the faces of others I can see the affected. I can see the behaviour, the symptoms, and the pain. When I see this it drives a dagger into me, and I long to reach out, to offer help and understanding. This is now the main motivation behind this site. What I have come to realise is that ‘healthy’ is the status quo, we were born to be in perfect health, unfortunately our society has developed a belief that merely surviving, and managing the symptoms, is enough. Excuse the ‘French’ but this is BULLSHIT. I have a huge amount of respect for the the medical profession, but I cannot deny that it failed me for years, and I have no doubt that it is failing others. If you are struggling, and no doctor can tell you why, I implore you to reach out, either via the contact page here or via our Facebook page.
I would love to hear from you.
