If you're seriously sick, get a chronic illness, or end up obese,
your chances of having the Different life you want are near zero.
Fortunately, you’re your own best way to stay healthy. But you have to go about it differently than the norm.
The operative phrase above is “you have to go about it.”
Whose Job Is It, Anyway?
The usual medical approach to health is built on the notion that "professionals" take care of us. The popular inference then becomes that each of us can eat whatever we want, drink whatever sounds tasty, sit around however much we care to, and then when we break, we get a human body mechanic (doctor) to fix us.
If you want to be truly healthy, though, it’s up to you, not to them.
This awareness is the first, essential step in creating a Different, healthier you: You have to decide to take care of yourself.
Standard health practices give lip-service to illness prevention and maintenance of good health. Yet even the oft-touted annual check-up is designed to catch something wrong before it gets serious, not to keep something from going wrong in the first place.
The pill you take for whatever ails you subdues symptoms that threaten your comfort, but it doesn’t fix the root cause of whatever’s eating you.* And certainly your best defense against getting sick isn’t to make sure you have ample doses of the next vaccine.
Sadly, when it comes to wellness, the cards are seriously stacked against you.
Not Your Friendly Neighborhood Pharmacist
Because the overlords of drug manufacturing influence health-related laws and food suppliers deliver "healthful" food and drink that isn't as healthy as advertised, we need to learn what advice to disregard and what to take seriously.
A starting point for analyzing information is to recognize that money-making is a significant motive in the healthcare and food industries. For the big players, they are extremely lucrative businesses.
Each year, pharmaceutical manufacturers spend as much money lobbying Congress for favors as the next two largest lobby groups combined.** This suggests that their best interests are not necessarily your best interests, or they wouldn’t need so much legal help.
There’s a lot of talk these days about being “woke,” and I admit I chafe a bit at the term. In some areas of life, though, getting woke is not such a bad idea. And knowing what’s best for your health is one of them.
The foundation for having a satisfying, Different life lies in taking responsibility for creating the life you want. So, I highlight health as yet another part of living to take hold of and get right by doing differently than the way we’re generally told to.
What’s a Body to Do?
A topic this huge can’t be covered in a single blog post, but I can suggest a few resources to get you started on a healthier Different. Check these out:
For guidelines on what to eat, see the Weston A. Price Foundation.
For better ways to exercise, check out Exercise for Injuries. (It's not just for people who are hurt.)
To build your immunities and understand why standard approaches like antibiotics and vaccines don't have to be your default treatments, see Dr. Fitt. (Especially the "Health Gold" video.)
You’ll have a better chance of living happily ever after when you live healthier ever after.
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* This is not a universally bad thing. I have a long-time friend, for instance, whose crippling condition as a child rendered her unable to walk. By the time she reached high school, a true miracle drug had enabled her to function normally. Continuing to take the medication since then, she has married, raised a family, had a career, and now enjoys her grandchildren. Modern medicine also performs other “miracles” by saving and restoring accident victims and those subjected to debilitating injuries.
** See Statista.com report at: https://www.statista.com/statistics/257364/top-lobbying-industries-in-the-us/
And the Investopedia review of lobbyists at: https://www.investopedia.com/investing/which-industry-spends-most-lobbying-antm-so/
† Photo credit: Pixabay.
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If you want to dive into the issues surrounding vaccines, this interview with Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. (nephew of our 35th president) offers a great overview:
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