So What is This Health Thing Anyway?
Health: It’s something that’s very important to all of us. Yet many, if not most, of us tend not to think about this profoundly important aspect of our lives until we lose it. And therein lies the problem.
The average earthling gets up in the morning, and if he can walk around, wiggle his toes, scratch his tummy, yet doesn’t feel any troubling symptoms and can seemingly function okay, he pronounces himself…HEALTHY!
But a closer look at this approach shows that it really doesn’t make sense.
You see, we’ve been trained all our lives that “good health” is synonymous with feeling good. We’ve been taught that we can simply live our lives, and so long as we feel okay, we’re doing just fine.
Of course, if we’re not feeling fine, our typical response is to go get some medication to relieve our symptom so that we feel better. Or, if things are bad enough, we may have to get a prescription for something more potent.
This is certainly not to say that medication is never necessary, however, the use of drugs to relieve our symptoms while ignoring the underlying cause of those symptoms is like putting the cart before the horse. It’s like turning off the fire alarm instead of putting out the fire!
And as a society we have become obsessed with the idea of treating disease instead of regaining health – not a good idea.
When I explain these concepts to my patients, everyone seems at least to get it. But if none of this makes sense, then why do we do it? Well, just look at all the ads you see on television, in magazines, etc. that offer relief for this, that, or the other. With this constant bombardment of such an erroneous message, no wonder we tend to think this way!
But that is not health, and it’s not wellness. Wellness is not about how you feel; it’s about how well your body is functioning, even in the absence of symptoms.
True optimal health is a state of well-being far beyond that at which diseases develop or symptoms occur. Makes sense?
Next month I’ll reveal the five components of optimal wellness that you need to address in order to maximize your health potential and live life with maximum pizzazz!
Dr. Paul is the owner of Weber Chiropractic Clinic and Wellness Centre in Port Hope. He can be reached at 905-885-9306, or you may visit his website http://www.drpaulweber.com/.
