The complexities of terms like 'healthy' and 'health'

I'm going to do my best with keeping this cohesive, but my thoughts are a bit all over with this topic and I couldn't find a similar article to help me sort out my thoughts.

Having multiple chronic conditions really complicates how I relate to terms like 'being healthy' 'health', etc. On some chronic illness types of surveys or other times when data is needed to be collected sometimes I am asked to rate my health with options like excellent, good, fair and poor. Unlike a pain scale I have never seen how to rate heatlh (maybe I should seek this out, but why isn't it included when being asked like often is with pain?). Obviously I don't fit under 'excellent' but so much of it otherwise depends on who I compare myself to or even various time points in my life. I need the option provided by facevook - it's complicated!' I never have nore will I ever be 100% healthy. There is a fair bit of stigma attached to not being healthy. Many also seem to think that 'being healthy' is a choice. So much exists out there encouraging people to "get healthy!"

What does it mean to have a 'healthy lifestyle' or 'be healthy' when having a chronic condition? There are workshops called things like "Living a healthy life with chronic conditions" or "healthy living" aimed towards people who have non-curable conditions/disorders/illnesses. While I think it's useful to learn how to make good choices and manage a condition well, I would like it see more recognized that 'healthy' as in completely healthy isn't attainable for most of the people these are geared towards. I can do things to have 'better heatlh' or to 'live (fairly) well (despite) my illness". The fact is that my life is and will look different than those who have healthy lives because of my illnesses.

Some really general aspects of a 'healthy lifestyle' can apply to most or even all. Like doing what is best for yourself. Listen to your body. The more specific recommendations are to have a healthy lifestyle though, the more and more they do not apply. Someone with a healthy lifestyle doesn't take multiple medications. At my age they do not sleep as much as I do. They are more active.

There's stigma to having an illness. An assumption, even in indirect ways that I did something to cause it or at least increase my risk. When it came to HAE my risk was simply being born. Neither of my parents have the gene for it. My 'healthy choices' are going to often look different than other people's because of my conditions. I wish recommendations would factor this in more often.

The below information is from the CDC's website. While some people with disabilties are healthy, many of us are disabled because of health issues.

Adults with disabilities should try to get at least 2 hours and 30 minutes (150 minutes) a week of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity (i.e., brisk walking; wheeling oneself in a wheelchair) or at least 1 hour and 15 minutes (75 minutes) a week of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity (i.e., jogging, wheelchair basketball) or a mix of both moderate- and vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activities each week. A rule of thumb is that 1 minute of vigorous-intensity activity is about the same as 2 minutes of moderate-intensity activity. They should avoid inactivity as some physical activity is better than none.

Muscle-strengthening activities should include moderate and high intensity, and involve all major muscle groups on two or more days a week (i.e., working with resistance-band, adapted yoga) as these activities provide additional health benefits. All children and adolescents should do 1 hour (60 minutes) or more of physical activity each day.

If a person with a disability is not able to meet the physical activity guidelines, they should engage in regular physical activity based on their abilities and should avoid inactivity. Adults with disabilities should talk to their healthcare provider about the amounts and types of physical activity that are appropriate for their abilities.

The main focus here is to have the same guidelines for everyone. It seems a bit silly to me that when this is a targeted page the emphasis is still on 'the norm'. I think this could be greatly improved by first emphasizing that one should be doing activities based on what is safe and appropriate for their situation. One piece of advice that is often given to those who don't fit within the norm is to "do what I can". We do not tell this to other people! Often doing what one can isn't what they should do. I could be way more active than what I currently am and what I should do. Just because I can do something doesn't mean that it's safe or a healthy choice. This applies to more than just physical activity.

I would love to hear other's thoughts on this! Also if you know of articles please share them! I find this is such a hard topic to search as these terms commonly come up in articles related to chronic illness while being about other chronic illness topics.

Here are some links I have come across, related although not really covering this topic or looking at another aspect:

https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/disabilityandhealth/healthyliving.html

https://themighty.com/2016/08/response-to-people-who-think-im-healthy-because-i-live-my-life/

https://themighty.com/2016/05/mother-responds-to-if-you-dont-have-health-you-dont-have-anything/

https://chronicrants.com/2014/03/04/the-myth-of-a-healthy-youth-myth/?iframe=true&preview=true language isn't all G-rated

https://www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=17&m=3065838

Quite a few about 'healthy babies'

https://themighty.com/2015/07/what-to-say-to-mothers-instead-of-as-long-as-its-healthy/

https://themighty.com/2016/07/why-health-isnt-everything-when-parenting-a-child-with-a-rare-disease/

https://themighty.com/2015/10/what-people-get-wrong-about-happy-and-healthy-babies/