When it comes to health, most everyone understands that it affects every part of life and so the desire is for more and better health. What most people don’t understand is that every part of life affects health – that health and life are intimately linked.
See, going on a diet generally isn’t good for your health and the reasons are likely many. For starters, let’s consider the first 3 letters – die… but with jokes aside, the main reason is that they are usually time bound. One might say for example, “I’m going to eat a certain way until I get to a desired weight,” but once the weight target has been reached they will likely revert back to their previous lifestyle and almost invariably more weight “climbs” back on.
This is largely because we as a society have become so near sighted and confused cause with effect. We view symptoms like excess weight, pain, poor flexibility, even cancer as problems that need to be treated rather than symptoms of an underlying approach to living (the cause). We are far too caught up with how we feel right now, giving little thought to what we’ve done to get there and where this current approach to life is taking us – are you regularly taking some time to consider your trajectory? Quite frankly, we are becoming less and less responsible – less and less able to respond most effectively to the stressors and strains that all of us face in this life.
Take for example the world’s fastest growing chronic degenerative disease; type II diabetes. In a nut shell, here’s how it’s caused: a person is consuming excess carbs and sugars so their pancreas produces insulin to convert it to fat and store it. As the excessive consumption of carbs and sugars continues more fat is stored and when their body (that is the amazing innate intelligence flowing through the nerve system) recognizes that they are too fat, it reduces their insulin sensitivity to stop more fat being stored because it doesn’t want the body to be any fatter (this is a protective mechanism just like pain is a warning to protect from further damage). What most people do, rather than take responsibility and reduce carbs and sugars, is go to their medical doctor who prescribes insulin to help their body store more fat, meaning they take pills or injections to help them get fatter which is the reason the insulin sensitivity is reducing in the first place!
If we want to be healthy we need to be responsible and this requires self discipline – the proverb “A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls.” This is so true when it comes to health. Optimal health requires taking a proactive approach to optimizing each area of our lives because we all come under attack from the 3 Ts (toxins, thoughts and trauma) right throughout life.
This makes sense yet why aren’t we as a society more proactive? We’ve lost or allowed our VISION to be taken from us. Without vision people will go with the flow and when a symptom or sickness arises they may take a healthier approach to life to get rid of it but that is an ‘away from’ motivation. As soon as they are ‘far enough away’, there is no motivation to keep on with this healthier approach and they go back to their old way and often end up in a worse state. Another proverb that rings true “without VISION people perish.”
So the key for health is having a VISION for your life! Here are some examples; enjoying life with your grandkids, playing golf/tennis when you are 80, serving your community in your retirement or travelling the world if you want to. Having a vision will enable you to do the less desirable thing and forgo the instant gratification (eat more of the spinach and less of the ice cream) and achieve a much greater reward. Having a VISION, with targets along the way and a plan to carry you through is vital for the best life. A final warning, the quick fix is far more costly… consistency is the driving force behind positive change and remember, your health will never exceed the VISION you have for your life!
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Blog by Guest Author:
Dr. Thomas Egan – Gonstead Chiropractor.
Established Peninsula Chiropractic that is now located on East Main Street in Welland in April 2013 – a patient centered family practice with a loving caring team consisting of Lisa, Melissa and newest addition Jessica. Lives in Welland with his wife Sarah, 1 year old son Malachi (who is brother of a yet to be determined boy or girl). Born and raised in Australia and from there graduated as a chiropractor in 2004 from RMIT. Practiced in Melbourne until 2013 before migrating to Welland, Canada. Has been practicing the Gonstead method since July 2000 (half way through 1st year university) – a method geared around getting to the root cause of the problem and making the most specific correction/adjustment toward normal (vastly different from a manipulation) to help the person get as good as possible as quick as possible and doing it in a way that helps them stay that way for as long as possible. Believes chiropractic, when applied in the most principled way, is gospel re-enactment on a physical level pointing to the ultimate adjustment given by Jesus who restores the relationship between the head (God) and the body (us).
You Can find Dr. Egan at:
[email protected]
727 East Main Street Welland, ON. L3B 3Y5
www.peninsulachiropractic.ca
https://www.facebook.com/PeninsulaChiropractic
Jo-Anne Richardson has almost a decade of experience managing a chiropractic office and educating patients on how chiropractic can allow your body to express optimal health. She is a Registered Holistic Nutritionist and holds a Degree in Communications. She loves to experiment with raw vegan recipes, loves to salsa dance, travel and learn new holistic health information to share tips with everyone who visits the office.