JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska -- Spiritual fitness is a component of CAF that is often overlooked by the average Airman. Why? Because it isn't as up front and easy to understand or exercise as the other pillars. Physical fitness is simple, hit the gym and eat healthily.

Social fitness is all about developing healthy relationships with others. Mental fitness is strengthened by looking for outside the box solutions and expanding the mind in ways like studying or pursuing education. So what about spiritual fitness?

Is spiritual fitness strengthened by going to a religious service regularly? For a large portion of people in the world it helps them, but for others not so much. What about putting on some relaxing music and meditating? Perhaps, but not everyone is able to still their minds and make meditation worthwhile. The common thread between meditation and religious services is finding inner-peace and increasing the joy in your life.

So how do you exercise your spiritual fitness?

It helps to look at what spiritual fitness is, in a way that's easy to understand, and to put it simply...it's your Happy Place. It's that one thing unique to every person and what is special to each of us. When you spend time being uniquely you, it makes you feel centered and more confident in yourself.

So, again, how do we strengthen spiritual fitness? That is really up to you. Doing something that makes you feel extremely happy and at peace is what you need. Whether it's going to your preferred religious service, or sitting down with some buttered popcorn and watching a good movie, it's up to you.

Just make sure to take some time for yourself and recharge your batteries in a way that is a big deal for you. As Mahatma Gandhi once said, "Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony."