As I write this I continue to feel numbed by the great tragedy that touched our nation last Tuesday. As Rev. Billy Graham reminded us when he spoke at the National Cathedral, no one who entered the World Trade Center, no passenger who got on one of the four hijacked planes and no fireman or policeman who went to the scene expected their life to end that day. We have been forced to face our mortality. That wake-up call also gives us an opportunity for action, including actions that take us to optimum levels of health and prepares us for future challenges.

My work encourages my audiences to be mindful of five dimensions of health. These include: our physical ability to do tasks, our mental ability to learn, our social ability to have satisfying relationships, our emotional ability to express ourselves appropriately, and our spiritual ability to find renewal and the resiliency to face life's challenges.

We've heard the word resiliency often the past few days. Resiliency is the ability to take what life offers and make the best of it. Here are some suggestions for ways that you can strengthen your resiliency in those five aforementioned dimensions of health.

Physical health: Every day, do some activity that challenges your body. For example, walk fast to or park far away from the door of the post office, bank, grocery or cleaners. Use stairs instead of escalators. Choose foods that provide your body with the best fuel possible.

Mental health: Continue to stimulate your mind. For example, work logic or crossword puzzles, eat with the opposite hand or begin to learn more about something that has always interested you.

Social health: Gather with others to work at something that helps make this a better world. In these suddenly different times new opportunities will emerge in weeks to come, but there are already many non-profits that need your help every day.

Emotional health: Find a way to healthfully process the thoughts and feelings you experience. For example, for sadness, put your thoughts and feelings on paper in the form of words or art; for anger, dig in the yard or throw a tennis ball against a backboard with all your might; for fear, mobilize yourself to move beyond it in a healthy way.

Spiritual health: Make time every day for quiet. For example, use the activities that bring you back to your center including prayer or meditation, yoga, dance or gardening.

Life is precious. Once again we have an opportunity to define or redefine our life's purpose, to clarify our values, set goals, make and keep commitments to others and ourselves. In other words, forge on.