There has been a dramatic increase in research linking lifestyle to health. It’s not uncommon to see on the news most evenings some story about how our lifestyle interacts with our health. As more and more stories rise in our consciousness, how can we ignore them? Don’t we feel that we have some responsibility for keeping ourselves healthy?
The research presented today looked at the connection between being overweight and cancer. The outcome of the study showed that women who were 30 pounds or more overweight had a 59% increased risk of bladder and kidney cancer. It’s easy to say that we’ll be in that other 41%, but there aren’t any guarantees. What are we doing to ourselves?
It’s not that I believe we are a masochistic culture. I don’t believe people walk around saying I’m going to play Russian roulette with my health so I’ll have another piece of pie. I do believe it’s about being conscious. I have an extreme case of acid reflux. It wasn’t unusual for me to take an acid reducing pill every night, sometimes more than one because I was becoming resistant to the effects. What I know is that over a long period of time I’m increase the chances of developing esophageal cancer. I had a choice and I have a choice every day, change my lifestyle or play BINGO with my life.
I’m fortunate that diet was the overwhelming factor in my acid reflux. I chose to go on Weight Watchers, not because I was overweight, but it would regulate, for me, the amount of fat in my diet and it was something I could measure. I want to take disease by the horns and throw it out of the ring. I want to be the victor and live with as minimal a chance of becoming ill as possible.
Here’s a couple of easy steps to begin reclaiming your life against disease and living a better quality of life:
1. Take an inventory of your life: what causes you discomfort, are there times of the year when you fall ill more easily, how are you handling stress?
2. Consider the amount of control you currently have over these items and then with truth in your heart, ask yourself, how much control do I really have over these items?
3. Change one thing. Life can be one big experiment. For me it was changing my diet, maybe for you it’s getting a massage once a week/month to reduce stress. Increase your bodies ability to maintain its own level of balance.
4. As you see changes think about what else you can change and over time you’ll see a cumulative effect as all these life enhancing activities build upon one another.
5. Consider a spiritual practice to calm your mind, this allows you to release unwanted negative thoughts and feel hugged by the Universe.
Let me know how you’ll implement your health maintenance plan.
Pilgrim Pathway/Surviving Strong 