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The Results are In!
Last fall I
conducted a small, informal survey. I wanted to find out what
reasons people gave themselves for not doing what they knew they could
to optimize their health. As a health provider, I knew the
reasons I hear a lot (OK, and my own…). But I wanted to know
what other people heard. So I asked that, too. What
reasons do you use yourself; what reasons do you hear from others?
53 people participated (including many of you!). About 2/3 were
health professionals and were 1/3 lay people.
Well, I've
tabulated the results. In this issue and the next four, we'll
reveal the top five reasons. Curious? Read on…
The Premise
The premise for
the whole project is this:
Point 1: A
relationship exists between a person's thoughts, beliefs, and habits
and their outside world. Chronic pain and illness can result
from non-productive states and habits. (For example, they
can change body structure, causing premature wear and tear of the
muscles and joints.)
Point 2:
People
naturally want to explain their circumstances, so they make up reasons
for their states of health. They choose explanations for effect, but
they don't always work. Like “the dog ate my homework,” the
explanations just aren’t credible. Hidden in the reasons people
give are clues to their undesired results.
Point 3:
As
we recognize the fallacies in our everyday explanations, we mobilize
vibrancy, vitality, and healing energy. It’s instantaneous!
Recognizing the fallacy immediately negates an old unwanted belief.
Reason #5:
It's
Old Age
What are your
mental biases toward the aging process? What do you expect to
happen in your body as you grow older? The average person in our
society would answer that, one way or another, they expect to
degenerate. I'll agree that there's some rationale for that.
Look around and you'll see that age-related degeneration is certainly
an option.
But is
degeneration the only option? And is age the
only factor involved in a degenerative process? The
answers are "no" and "no". We can't control the passage of time
(yet), but we certainly can control how we respond to it. I
propose that there are two other factors that are critical. Here
they are:
1.
The expectation of decay. So obvious! The expectation
itself is our first problem. Why? If you expect yourself
to fall apart as you grow older, and you do, you'll be meeting your
expectations right on schedule. No point looking for any other
answers or solutions, is there? Of course not. This way,
you get to be right!
On the other
hand, if you have the expectation that it's normal to stay healthy to
a ripe old age, wouldn't you be a lot more motivated to seek out
solutions to little problems as they arise? Of course so.
Because if your expectation is that it's normal to feel good, you'll
be more proactive about doing the things that allow you to keep
feeling good.
2.
Lack of maintenance. The other critical factor is lack
of maintenance. How far would your car go if you never changed
the oil? Not far. In the absence of oil, would it be
accurate to attribute your engine failure to old age? Of course
not. The problem is lack of maintenance.
What if you never
brushed your teeth or had a dental check-up? Your teeth would
probably fall out. So goes the rest of your body. Do the
maintenance, keep everything in tip-top working order, and it'll last
well for about 120 years (so I'm told). Unless you're over 100,
"It's Old Age" just doesn't cut the mustard.
How it sounds.
Listen for these key phrases to see if you're using "It's Old Age"
as an excuse to avoid things you could be doing to optimize your
health:
- At my
age, what can you expect?
-
Everyone knows you get stiff and sore as you get older.
- Of
course I’m stooped over.
- It’s
old age.
Bottom
line: When you expect to feel good, you're a lot more likely
to do the things it takes to stay that way — and to find solutions for
what's bothering you when you don't.
"It's old age" is
just one of the 21 reasons you'll learn to avoid when you read and
apply the strategies you'll find in Word Cures: How to Keep
Stupid Excuses from Sabotaging Your Health. Learn more here:
www.WordCures.com.
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