January is the traditional resolution time of year, coming just after a prolonged period of waist-line expansion that began at Thanksgiving dinner and ended at midnight on New Year’s Eve. It is a time when we state our intentions for the coming year. Some do it formally and broadcast their plans on social media. Others do it silently so that no one else will know when they fail. This is my preferenceJ And still others show antipathy to this annual self-analysis, either ignoring their shortcomings or convincing themselves that they have nothing which needs improving. Which are you?
For reasons beyond my control this past month I have been spending a great deal of time in places with names such as Urgent Care, Emergency Room, Intensive Care Unit, Telemetry Unit, Skilled Nursing Facility, Rehabilitation, etc. There’s a lot of misery in these places, people suffering, and worse. Some of them are there through no fault of their own. Sometimes you just get sick. Stuff happens. Others are there simply because they are old and their bodies are wearing out. But I would argue that more than half are there either because their actions did not mirror their intentions, or they made no intentions in the first place to take action upon. In short, they didn’t take care of this very fragile temple we live in.
Have you spent time in one of these places either as on observer or participant? What do you think about when you walk down their hallways? I’ll tell you what I think about as I see bed after bed filled with folks recovering from any number of ailments. I see people sitting around in wheel chairs as if waiting for…anything to happen. Walkers. Bedside commodes. Bed pans. Call buttons. IV’s. Fear. Pain. Despondency. Crying for help. I feel great empathy for these folks, but what I constantly think about is, “Am I doing all that I can or should to keep myself out of this place in my not very distant future?”
To address this question we have to quickly review the largest preventable reasons for admission to these places. Did you know that the single largest cause of disability on the planet is the spine? The vast majority of the money spent to treat this problem goes to back surgery and drugs (giving us the current opioid epidemic). I could adjust you every week for over 100 years for the cost of one fusion back surgery! After spine issues comes everything that can happen from a combination of eating too much, eating the wrong things, exercising too little, and of course, smoking (heart disease, cancer, diabetes, others).
So based upon the above paragraph, am I arguing that if you merely ate responsibly, exercised a little bit, reasonably managed your weight, didn’t smoke, and took moderate care of your spine (weekly adjustments and disc pump exercises), you would be much less likely to need a hospital, a skilled nursing facility, or any other critical or chronic care facility? Absolutely!!
If you accept my argument and decide that you are worth some effort, then state your intention to do these few things, consistently act on your intentions, and then reap the benefits years and decades from now. It’ll be worth the effort.
For reasons beyond my control this past month I have been spending a great deal of time in places with names such as Urgent Care, Emergency Room, Intensive Care Unit, Telemetry Unit, Skilled Nursing Facility, Rehabilitation, etc. There’s a lot of misery in these places, people suffering, and worse. Some of them are there through no fault of their own. Sometimes you just get sick. Stuff happens. Others are there simply because they are old and their bodies are wearing out. But I would argue that more than half are there either because their actions did not mirror their intentions, or they made no intentions in the first place to take action upon. In short, they didn’t take care of this very fragile temple we live in.
Have you spent time in one of these places either as on observer or participant? What do you think about when you walk down their hallways? I’ll tell you what I think about as I see bed after bed filled with folks recovering from any number of ailments. I see people sitting around in wheel chairs as if waiting for…anything to happen. Walkers. Bedside commodes. Bed pans. Call buttons. IV’s. Fear. Pain. Despondency. Crying for help. I feel great empathy for these folks, but what I constantly think about is, “Am I doing all that I can or should to keep myself out of this place in my not very distant future?”
To address this question we have to quickly review the largest preventable reasons for admission to these places. Did you know that the single largest cause of disability on the planet is the spine? The vast majority of the money spent to treat this problem goes to back surgery and drugs (giving us the current opioid epidemic). I could adjust you every week for over 100 years for the cost of one fusion back surgery! After spine issues comes everything that can happen from a combination of eating too much, eating the wrong things, exercising too little, and of course, smoking (heart disease, cancer, diabetes, others).
So based upon the above paragraph, am I arguing that if you merely ate responsibly, exercised a little bit, reasonably managed your weight, didn’t smoke, and took moderate care of your spine (weekly adjustments and disc pump exercises), you would be much less likely to need a hospital, a skilled nursing facility, or any other critical or chronic care facility? Absolutely!!
If you accept my argument and decide that you are worth some effort, then state your intention to do these few things, consistently act on your intentions, and then reap the benefits years and decades from now. It’ll be worth the effort.