Tears are a lot like snowflakes. No two are the same.

And the ways in which they are different tells us a lot about what’s going on inside of us.

😭 😢 😪 😂 🤣

A landscape photographer decided to capture her own tears…

… and the project grew.

She learned that what’s happening “inside of us” emotionally actually is physically.

⭐️

In his book Seek. Adapt. Endure., my friend Mike Sanders, who trains U.S. Special Forces, writes—

As you can imagine, in twenty years of helping others achieve their goals, I’ve seen various levels of human potential and performance.

I’ve seen individuals who, in my opinion, were mental and spiritual giants but lacked physical strength and endurance.

Conversely, I’ve seen perfect physical specimens who are completely bankrupt spiritually, which in my estimation leads to mental lack, weakness, and cowardice.

I’ve seen many who can lift, jump, and run heavier, higher, and faster than all others completely fall apart mentally at the slightest challenge in life. And then there are those who have done the work to develop their whole selves.  

For example, a SEAL I once trained was spiritually, mentally, and physically clicking on all cylinders at a level I’ve rarely seen. He was frightening— frightening because I knew he would be nearly impossible to stop if he set his mind to something, which he had a reputation for. Thank goodness he was one of the good guys and a friend.

To say it another way, it’s possible to be healthy in one area and unhealthy in the other areas. Total health / holos health evaluates all three areas.

Mike continues,

These people all have something in common. They are all operating with something I call interdependent realization. It’s a term I use to explain how we develop our potential as tripartite human beings. As I said, we all have the amazing gift of being able to improve and grow through training. As one part improves, it will affect the growth of the other parts of our tripartite being. The stronger we are in each of these aspects of our nature, the stronger and more resilient we become holistically. 

The spirit, mind, and body are mutually dependent on one another. In other words, the wellness or illness of one affects the others in a collective, connected, reciprocal way.

The great philosopher Plato once said, “The part can never be well unless the whole is well.”  

I would like to suggest that the opposite is also true: The whole can never be well unless the parts are well.

Interdependent realization is based on the truth of these combined statements: The parts can never be well unless the whole is well, and the whole can never be well unless the parts are well.