None of what I post here matters if we don't take good care of ourselves. Nothing is more valuable than good health. What good is all the money in the world if you do not feel well enough to enjoy it? If you are at all like me, your health is not perfect. Maybe you are a little too heavy, don't exercise enough and don't eat healthy. Along with getting busy with work, family and the daily grind, it is easy to forget the most important thing-- taking good care of ourselves. It is easier and quicker to hit the drive through at McNasty than go home and make a proper dinner (a touch of meat, with lots of fruit and vegetables). When I was young, the effects of a tasty junk food meal seemed minimal. But the reality is this "food product" is like fine sandpaper wearing down your good health. It seems no big deal at first. But take another look two years, five years or ten years later and witness what paramedics call a "train wreck." This is someone with diabetes, high blood pressure (heart disease), weak immune systems, joint and back problems and so on and so on. This person's only source of happiness is the next McNasty fix. And even that is not what it once was. All they can talk about is their endless health problems, doctors appointments and up coming procedures. We all know people in this boat. It s just a part of American culture. My own health never got quite this bad. It was headed in the wrong direction.
A so-so diet and a very sedentary job conspired to try and kill me. I'm already handicapped and a substantial weight gain did me no favors. I found myself being pushed along in a wheelchair all too often for distances that should have been easily managed. Walking and doing normal stuff became harder and harder. Then one day at work, my left arm became numb. I was smart enough to know not to ignore this. Thinking it was just a pinched nerve I drove myself to a doc in the box close by. The next thing I know I'm in an ambulance being rushed to the hospital. I had some kind of "event" Later on I came to believe this was a small heart attack (if there is such a thing). A three year trip through a medical mystery tour had begun. I'd feel dizzy and off balance almost every day. I just passed out three to five times for no known reason. I wore a heart monitor two or three times for three week stretches, nothing. Finally, i was diagnosed with third degree heart block. No, this was not caused by too many trips to McNasty (or was it?). It is not a blockage of arteries in the heart but rather the signals that tell the heart to beat being blocked. There is more to it than this but you get the idea. The problem was fixed with a pacemaker I named Pacman. What caused the signal to be blocked was, most likely, a small heart attack. So I was told. Slowly, I began to make changes.
My diet improved. I made it a point to get up and move around more at work. I was able to ditch the wheelchair more and more. I started doing leg lifts. Just twenty a night to start and I added more as time went on. I got up to 120 a night. It just made me feel better. Still my diet is not perfect but it is so much better than before. I exercise fairly regularly now and walk around a lot more than I used to. I'm a work in in progress I guess you could say. I think we all are. The point to this story is you don't have to change everything over night. Start with one positive small step and build on it. There is no way you can help others and let your own health go. That's just a bad deal all the way around. It is never too late to start. I had an uncle quit smoking in his early sixties and he felt better within a day or two. He used to smoke three plus packs a day! Good health is essential for being a happy contributing member of the community. It can be done. You just have to commit to it. And start off small. The change will come. I need to get outside now.
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