Ralph Carlson Blog

Are passive or aggressive about your health?

I think that most of us are passive about our health. We take what happens with our bodies and deal with it. We react and respond. The human body is so well designed that we can get away with this kind of neglect. It copes so well with hardships and handicaps that we expect that it will always take care of us. We abuse our bodies with poor food choices. We skip exercise. We do what feels good instead of what would serve our bodies best. In spite of this neglect, our bodies serve us well particularly through our younger years. By the time we reach middle age, the accumulated effects begin to show. First our bodies lose some resilience and some of the processes are no longer as efficient. Second the damage from poor diet and lack of exercise cumulative and begin to impact how we look and feel.

Changes happen.

We gain weight. We get out of shape and are winded easily. We get sick more often and take longer to recover. Injuries affect us more. We don’t have the energy we used to have, lie around more and get fatter. We adapt and adjust to these changes and lower our standards. We don’t expect things to be as good as they used to be. We blame it on aging and don’t change anything we are doing and as a result our health continues to get worse.

Would you treat your car like you treat your body?

Contrast the way we neglect and damage our bodies to how we treat our cars. We know that routine maintenance will make our cars last longer. Regular oil changes and fluid checks will ensure that the car ages well and continues to be reliable. Checking the tire pressure and rotating the tires will make them last longer. We do this before the car breaks down because we know that after the car breaks down the fix is harder and more expensive. The car is an investment and so we take good care of it. Our bodies cost us nothing and so we don’t protect them.

Don’t neglect your health!

Whatever age you are. Whatever shape your health may be in, I urge you to take charge of your health and take care of your body. Finishing strong means taking your health seriously. You can’t turn back the clock but you can slow it down. Sometimes you can even repair some of the damage from earlier neglect. If you are on the way to a health train wreck, stop and regroup. Come back on Wednesdays and find out what I am doing. Or contribute some of your own thinking because I haven’t got this aging well thing figured out yet and I want all the help I can get.  Join the finishing strong team and take an active role with your health.