The vital importance of your health

As I write this I am coming off of one of the most terrible weeks I have had in well over a year. We don’t often reflect on our health until it’s limited, under attack, or generally gone and that is exactly what is going on here with me. I got sick and I don’t mean as in I have a cold. I had (still have, really) something nasty.

I have a dilemma. I typically love fall and winter because I hate summer as a season. It is a hot, sweaty, miserable excuse of a season and where I live it seems like it lasts FOREVER. 

Sure, I have heard all of the reasons people love summer: barbecues, cookouts, beaches, partying, longer days, girls wearing less (believe me, it’s a promiment one given); you name it and I’ve heard it. My response is typically one from a responsible individual: I have to work in this weather. I spend at least 8 hours in this miserable weather; most of the time it’s even more. Sure, if I was filthy rich, didn’t need to work, and partied all the time perhaps my mind would gravitate to the reasons listed above. As it is, colder temperatures are much more conducive to work – I can always put more clothes on. Besides, getting the blood flowing helps to keep one warm. As the old saying goes, “the heat’s in the tools.”

*UPDATE* Check out my post, Why I HATE (and I mean HATE) summer.

However, there is an unfortunate downside to my favored time of year. My ability to get sick is increased dramatically and my body certainly knows this. In fact, this is the only argument those who love summer have that I can’t refute; I intrinsically know it to be true. Even so, I have no plans to yield the argument; even when I do get sick it’s only for a short time and then things return back to normal. Most of the time this turns out to be true and for most people. But not everyone.

I’m currently recovering from an unknown sickness that had me against the ropes for a week. I went to work on a Monday and it reared it’s ugly head that evening. As I bundled up my wife knew right away I was sick. I NEVER EVER am cold at home. It doesn’t matter if it’s 50 in the house; I just put on sweat pants and a sweatshirt and thoroughly enjoy the coolness knowing full well I’ll wish for it later when the ac struggles to keep the house under 70.

So when I got home Monday evening and bundled up my wife knew I was sick, a sure fire sign I’m under the weather. I was shivering, climbed under the blankets trying to sweat it out and went to bed.

I got up the next day, took an ibuprofen 800 mil pill (from an auto accident I had been in the beginning of the year) and went to work. All was fine in the morning but in the afternoon whatever it was came back with a vengeance. I climbed back in bed that evening freezing, under heavy covers, hoping I would feel better in the morning.

Repeated the same morning routine and went to my chiropractor appointment looking and feeling real rough. He commented on how bad I looked and reiterated “75 – 80% of my auto accident patients get sick” and told me to take a lot of vitamin C because it is “the most powerful anti virus on the planet.”

*Note* I got rear ended pretty hard at the beginning of the year and have been seeing a chiropractor three days a week as a result. My whole left side was/remains jacked up and I admit I didn’t know anything about chiropractic care before this incident. We have had a number of conversations about numerous topics, many which I was impressed with his knowledge. He told me to take vitamin C (not the pill form since studies show it isn’t completely absorbed and therefore isn’t as affective as liquid or crystallized vitamin C) from the beginning. The reason: most people in car accidents have weakened immune systems because their nervous system, which runs their immune system, is under some trauma from the accident which leaves the individual susceptible to sickness far easier than normal. Like a dummy, I didn’t listen and took my health for granted.

Every day this week was the same: rise, take some pain reliever, go to work, feel like crap when I got home, bundle up and try to sweat it out.

When Friday night came, I was really bad off. I had a temp of 102.6 and went to sleep shaking. When I woke up Saturday morning I was supposed to go to work but called in and decided to rest. Consequently, I spent the entire day in and out of consciousness resting. IT WAS NEEDED.

I stayed and rested on Sunday morning too because I woke up sweating profusely under the blankets in my sweatpants and hoodie. Good. That’s what I was hoping for.

I started to think how I take my health for granted all the time. I only think about it when something is amiss. Otherwise, I march onward with my health in tow, believing it to be with me until it isn’t.

That’s how we all act. We take our health for granted. We forget about it until it’s out of whack. Our lives are interrupted by our declining health, our day to day routine stopped in its tracks.

My battle with being under the weather seemed longer than it really was. I’m not trying to minimize it, merely putting it into perspective when we think about those who have serious battles for their health.

And it’s this topic that is the true focus of this post:

The vital importance of your health.

There are millions who dream of nothing more than to have their health back, or worse, to have the health they never had. Think about it for a few seconds and I’m sure you know people in those camps; I sure do.

I know people who have cancer. People who have diabetes. People who struggle with thyroid issues. People who have arthritis, high blood pressure, heart disease, bad backs, fibromyalgia, etc. I could go on and on listing all that comes to mind but suffice it to say we all know people who are sick and wish they weren’t. Maybe there is treatment for their ailments; for many there isn’t. And while some are capable of living their lives as though they are healthy many cannot; they muddle through their days in pain, anguish, and misery desiring for the former days of health and vitality. Worse are those who have never had the same level of health many take for granted; they only want what many have had.

Health is often associated with youth. Most youth we know are healthy, vibrant people who grow up and develop health problems as they age. This, we say, is the way of things and they got sick because it’s par for the course. These things happen, as it were. It’s inevitable.

This is in large part true because youthfulness has wonderful benefits. Many focus on the non gray hair (or hair for that matter!), wrinkle less skin, or even vibrancy. We live in a youth saturated culture that disdains age and the wisdom which often accompanies it. Most fight the aging battle, desiring to look younger and rewind the clock.

However, what about those who have never really had health? From their youth they have been wracked with poor health via ailments, genetic disorders, and circumstances out of their control? In their case they’d never had the health many associate with youthfulness. But you can bet the farm they wish they had.

What does that say about our concept of health?

While being young does have healthful advantages for many there are some who gain nothing. In fact, they probably have it worse since they are young and do not have the health generally associated with youthfulness. Besides, what about adulthood? Just because you become an adult doesn’t mean you instantly begin to experience poor health.

Let’s start by addressing a few misconceptions regarding health:

1. Health does not equal youth and vice versa.
2. Health is just as genetic as it is about our choices.
3. Being healthy is a form of massive wealth.

 

Health does not equal youth and vice versa.

This should go without saying, especially since I was just laying out this case but hey, word count is important in a post, right?

Just because someone is youthful doesn’t mean they are going to be healthy. We all know people who this is the case for. Who hasn’t seen the St. Jude’s commercials with all the cancer striken kids? Or the kids in third world countries living in poverty and sickness? There are scores of children’s hospitals around this country and they wouldn’t exist if being young guaranteed health.

The opposite is also true, though. Just because you are healthy doesn’t mean you are young. I know many a senior citizen who has stellar health and others who are wracked with serious illnesses. I know guys in their 60s who run circles around guys half their age. The common denominator sure isn’t youth.

With a more comprehensible survey we find health all across the spectrum. I suspect a number of factors are at play and that leads us to my next point:

Health is just as genetic as it is about our choices.

Some people have absolutely great health. It seems they have won the genetic lotto, having been born with absolutely amazing immune systems and are health powerhouses. They appear indestructible, seem to withstand the onslaught of sickness and disease all around them, and appear invincible.

Others are the very definition of hypochondriacs: the littlest hint of sickness in the air and they are spraying Lysol on EVERYTHING for fear of getting sick. Why? Because they often get sick at the mere mention of the word. Their immune system is so weak they should own stock in the health care system because they are frequent clients. Chances are you know someone who is like this also.

Some have hit the genetic lotto while others are plagued with poor health. But there is more to it than genetics; as we all know to be true.

Many of us seem to have been given the genetics on the bell curve and we deal with that accordingly. Some eat well while others eat like a perpetual 6 year old. Some exercise with veracity; others forgo all physical activity upon reaching adulthood. Some sleep the appropriate number of hours and some burn the candle at both ends. Some people regularly visit a Primary Care Physician; others have never heard the term.

Genetics plays a part in our health but so does our management of it. If we have great genetics but fail to manage the health given what’s it all been for? You can be sure those who are not as fortunate as we are in the health department wish they were, and dream accordingly.

This leads me to my last point and the reason I wrote the post in the first place:

Being healthy is a form of massive wealth.

It was not my intent with this post to delve into the number of people who are sick vs those healthy. Nor was it my intent to focus on youth vs old age. I merely wanted you to think about all of the people you know on all sides all over the spectrum and think about where you are accordingly. If you are healthy you have some serious wealth. Seriously, think about it for a minute.

If you don’t have your health then chances are you aren’t well enough to fully pursue other forms of wealth, or, more likely, aren’t capable of enjoying your other forms of wealth because of a frail constitution.

Below is a quote many are fond of and have read before:

“The Dalai Lama, when asked what surprised him most about humanity, answered ‘Man. Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices his money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived.’”

I’m not trying to dispute the veracity of the quote or it’s author; rather, I thought the idea in the quote would add some weight to the argument I bring. Namely, your health.

You see, many a man, according to the Dalai Lama, sacrifices his health to build wealth. To put it another way, they had the health to exchange for wealth building. But you have to have that health to sacrifice for the above to be true. What if it isn’t?

Consider yourself extremely blessed and wealthy if you are healthy. Without it, you are at a considerable disadvantage no matter where in life you find yourself. Without the wealth of being healthy, you have FAR less than you imagine. I’m betting anyone who is sick would give their wealth to be healthy (the Dalai Lama’s point) because in many circumstances it is the ULTIMATE FORM OF WEALTH. No one that I know desires wealth at the expense of their health. Many spend countless dollars in pursuit of being healthy. If they don’t go to the doctor on a regular basis, attempting to stay healthy, they will at least attempt to rid themselves on their sickness and return to normal. No one I know loathes their health; rather, most take it for granted, not thinking about it until things aren’t quite right.

Let us reflect on our health, realize the wealth we have being healthy, and be thankful for the massive wealth that is health.

I’ll raise a glass of crystallized vitamin C water to that.