This week's Soapblogs come from a pair of transplants, newlyweds Jodi McIntosh and Brian Hiebert. Not only did the pair come a long way for opportunities in the Queen City - she's originally from Wyoming, he's from Vancouver - but they also found each other here. This week they share their thoughts about their adopted hometown, how to fight negative perceptions, and developing a healthy attitude about your city.
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Health of the City is tied to Your Own Health
Posted By: Jodi McIntosh & Brian Hiebert
3/25/2010
Indeed it is the small things that matter, be it with our city's health or with your own health. In order to keep our city vibrant and healthy, we need to approach our city and our health in the same way. Every day you make choices that either make you healthier and more energetic, or you make choices otherwise that over time, will make you ill. Please ask yourself these questions as you debate this idea of our city's health alongside your own health. Do you walk to your local farmers market in the summer and purchase fresh produce, supporting your body's health and the health of our local food system or do you buy unhealthier versions of our food produced overseas that often contain toxins our bodies cannot handle? Do you ever support locally-owned small businesses, who make or buy their products locally or do you regularly drive miles outside the city and shop at big box stores? Do you ever find yourself too tired and without enough energy to spend on getting involved with local charities or community events? Further, are you a Cincinnatian that chooses to contribute to the health of our city by being positive and helping it evolve or do you choose to listen to and fuel the naysayers, buying into the notion that Cincinnati is in a silo with its problems and is not a city with world-class assets?
The bottom line is that when you say or think negative thoughts, those thoughts are virally spread throughout the community you live in. And guess what? Those exact negative thoughts that are unhealthy to our city are also unhealthy to you, and will lead to stress-related illnesses. Negativity leads to stress, stress leads to illness and illness takes away from you and our city evolving and growing.
Overall positivity, on the other hand, is viral as well and has a significant impact to our community spirit and pride, which inevitably is a major factor in attracting and retaining talent in our city. It really is a matter of choice and attitude. Being positive does not mean you have to agree with the consensus, but rather it means you are choosing to take a healthier outlook. If you do not like something the way it is, then choose to change it or choose to find something else that makes you happy. Cincinnati is not everything to everyone, but it certainly has something for everyone and it is up to you to choose to find those things about our city that make you feel positive and ultimately, healthy.