Health: a personal commitment

Health as a personal commitment is a view that evolves from Parse's theory of man-living-health. This article describes different models of human nature and explains health from the perspectives of each, describes a view of health from the man-living-health theory supported by other contemporary works, and posits some implications for nursing practice and research related to this view of health. The author elaborates on ways human beings move beyond the moment to change patterns of health through creative imagining, affirming self, and spontaneous glimpsing of the paradoxical. The meaning of true presence is discussed as well as some basic suggestions for the study of phenomena using the Parse research methodology.