“IT’S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN TO ME!”
These seven words are expressed and/or believed by a large percentage of the population. “Dangerous diseases” and “death” simply isn’t “REAL” to the average person whether young or middle age. SELF DENIAL is the typical approach used to “prevent” oneself from succumbing to these horrific outcomes.
WHY ARE WE SO RESISTANT TO FACE THE TRUTH?
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Why do we CHOOSE TO BELIEVE harmful foods will not cause harmful outcomes?
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Why do we CHOOSE TO BELIEVE sedentary living will not negatively impact our health?
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Why do we CHOOSE TO BELIEVE good health can be achieved without exercise?
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Why do we CHOOSE TO BELIEVE stress does not contribute to disease and death?
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Why do we CHOOSE TO BELIEVE the FREEDOM to make poor decisions is more important than the RESPONSIBLE option to CHOOSE better alternatives?
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Why do we CHOOSE TO BELIEVE our individual health does not affect the lives of those around us (emotionally and financially?)
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Why do we CHOOSE TO BELIEVE if something happens to us, it only then becomes time to modify our destructive ways?
DOES OUR FREEDOM TO “CHOOSE TO BELIEVE” MAKE US INCAPABLE OF RESPONSIBLE BEHAVIOR AND ACTIONS?
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All About Healthy Choices 
You make a very good point here. I want to face reality, but it is more likely that I will deny it until forced to change. I was just in the ER with a serious chest pain. They did the tests and nothing (this is nothing new) Again it was my Fibro. Inflammation in the chest that hurt before he poked the area. Most of my trigger points hurt without being poked in the area. My rheumatologist will give me 2 injections every 3 months either in the trigger point or the joint, depending on what is worse. Never thought I would be asking for needles. I am terrified of them. My family is starting to get to lecturing for what I eat and I have a nurse for a daughter and my son is in nutrition and exercise. They all talked behind my back and my son told me. I am the stubborn one. Great article.
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I understand how difficult (and scary) REALITY can be. Unfortunately, we only get one chance at life with limited time to experience the joys and unhappiness that accompanies it. The sooner we decide to take SMALL BABY STEPS forward to accomplishing better patterns of behavior, the sooner we get to ENJOY THE BENEFITS AND THE EXPERIENCES this lifestyle offers.
Wishing you only the best in the coming new year!
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Now my father is joining the lecture Tessa group on her behavior. It doesn’t make me want to run out and get fruits and vegetables. I am not going to change until I AM READY. And I do this with full information on what I face.Hope you have a happy new year!
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Tessa, Thank you for sharing your story and I know how hard it can be to face reality as well. I have struggled with Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, and Chronic fatigue syndrome. The EDS has caused many other issues ranging throughout my body as well. I had symptoms starting in infancy but since it’s a rare genetic disorder, I wasn’t diagnosed until 23 years old.
I’ve just become inspired to take my struggles and turn them into something positive. I want to blog to help others and have them be able to relate to someone and hopefully even feel comfort. You’re more than welcome to follow me, I only have an introduction as of right now but I plan to write many more. I hope your family can try to understand your struggle and how you wouldn’t ever want to deal with this. The bad part is, many who don’t experience it for themselves have no sympathy for others and can’t understand how or why we always feel the way we do.
I hope things get better for you, Tessa.
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Thank you
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You’re welcome 😊
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Reblogged this on Advocate for Mental and Invisible Illnesses and commented:
I wanted to share my friend’s great article. I urge you to follow him. He is a doctor with well thought out articles.
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Thank you for sharing, Tessa!
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You are welcome. It was something I could get behind. Though still unable to accomplish.
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Great read!!
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Glad you enjoyed it.
I hope it helps contribute to a marvelous journey for you in 2017.
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As a reformed abuser of my body through bad eating and lack of exercise, I would like to mention that the concept ‘everything I eat becomes a part of me’ helped to straighten me out. In other words, when I stopped eating just for the taste and actually thought about what I was putting into my system, I had the tool I needed to control my weight – and health. Really good post!
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From your mouth to EVERYONE’S EARS!!! Love your quote, “everything I eat becomes a part of me.”
As people begin to understand that lifestyle modification is NOT based on deprivation, but rather a newfound energy, vitality, functionality and appreciation for a LIFE OF QUALITY, more people will pursue these goals.
Your comment adds positive proof to this QUALITY end result.
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Thanks, Jonathan. It was one of those ‘lightbulb ‘ moments for me. Hope it proves helpful to your folks. BTW, Happy New Year and continued success in ’17!
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That’s a really great way to look at it…”everything I eat becomes a part of me.” Nice little reminder and I’ll bet it helps tremendously when you’re about to put something unhealthy in your mouth. I’ll remember that little phrase.
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Thanks, and yes, that’s exactly how it works. I have had essentially the same weight for the past five years. No problem.
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We are taught to take the choices we take. We are indoctrinated with societal values that lead us to support the perpetuation of the power of the powerful. The mass is not supposed to be free in their choice to believe; rather it is made believe what serves the purpose of a stable society. We cannot escape the influence of the environment on us. Therefore it is so important to expose people to different, healthier options and examples. That’s my motivation to educate. I wish you a lot of energy also in 2017 to spread your healthy messages that are so important. Thanks.
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Well said. It is important to gain greater AWARENESS about the truths and deceptions the various powerful industries impose on the masses. Our focus, however, should not be on THEM; it should be on the individual’s needs that create a physical, mental and spiritual BALANCE that provides opportunities to experience the joys of quality living through personal growth and development.
Wishing you and your family all these joys in the New Year!
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This is a powerful wake up call to all of us. Thank you for sharing!
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I hope so. Often, people have good intentions, however, lack the necessary sense of SELF VALUE needed to convert intentions into SUCCESSFUL OUTCOMES. It is my belief that each of us was blessed with the gift of LIFE and a chance to offer this world a piece of US to enhance the world we live in. Recognizing the world GAINS from our INDIVIDUAL contributions makes it simpler to see the VALUE in our lives. This helps incentivize (as well as motivate) us to move forward in a POSITIVE direction; sharing our GIFTS while improving the quality of our lives.
Wishing you and your family these joys and many more in the coming year!
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Many thanks to you Doctor Jonathan! May 2017 give you more light to pass on to others!
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Bad eating habits, stress, sedentary living, all are contributors to our sad reality of today. I for one,going what I have gone through the past year can attest that removing stress and eating healthy contributed to a big part of my healing process without the harsh methods of conventional medicine. Integrated medicine is great. I was lucky to have found an amazing oncologist who was encouraging , positive and allowed me the freedom to choose my course of treatment. Also the power of prayers by family and friends gave me the courage to face my diagnosis head on and thus started the healing and recovery process. I am blessed👰
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Your ACTIVE participation in the process plays an important role toward achieving improved health. Recognizing the various components and addressing them to achieve BALANCE usually achieves better results. Glad to see a supportive group around you adding to the success already achieved. You are a wonderful example to many in this world seeking HEALTHY ideas to (BOTH) combating disease AND MAINTAINING GOOD HEALTH.
I agree with you; you are BLESSED!
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I love the ‘following needs to satisfy wants’ idea. I am not a big one on resolutions, but I am setting some 2017 goals, and many of them are directly related to the ideas and thoughts you have posted here. Thank you for making me a healthier, happier person!
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You have a way of really getting right to the heart of a problem in your posts and truly I cant even tell you how badly I needed to read this right now. You have pulled me back on track as you always do Jonathan… I need to have all of my blood work done as well as a chest xray and a few other check up type things…Im due for a mammogram and just all kinds of good stuff hahaa! I have to pick up the phone in the morning and just get to it! After all I have come so far I dont want to slip into any old bad patterns that is for sure! 🙂 Thank you!!
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The older I get, the more I see how these terrible diseases and untimely deaths do indeed happen to people, who don’t take care of themselves. Yet most people seem to take far better care of their car than their own body.
I wanted to let you know that I am taking a break from blogging for awhile. Yesterday, I looked back over the past year and realized that the main reason I did not meet my 2016 goal of finishing my memoir, was because of the hours I often spent per day, reading and writing on blogs! For this reason, I have unfollowed all blogs and made mine private temporarily.
Thank you for all your great encouragement, both in your comments on my blog and here on your own blog. I know that I will never reach my goal if I don’t take great care of myself physically, so I am doing that, too!!
Have a happy and healthy new year!
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This is a great post, too many people don’t take responsibility for their own actions and choices
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So True, great post
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Oh sweetheart reality stares me back every morning….no matter if I try to be happy to see her or not…there she is…dark circles under the eyes, gray in the hair, not so perfect skin, won’t even go into the saggy skin…LOL yes again I will try to defy the age….get a bottle for the gray hair, and maybe more sleep for the dark circles, eat better for the complexion….LOL what a great post my friend…..turning 60 has really lite a fire under me…..look out here I come!!!! happy new year…kat
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I love your blog and the points you made throughout it. I was born with a genetic disorder and not only have I struggled with it throughout my life but I wasn’t diagnosed until 23 since it is a rare disorder. It’s called Ehlers Danlos Syndrome. I was in denial for the longest time due to others thinking of me as having hypochondria and blowing things out of proportion due to the many symptoms EDS causes. They believed, I couldn’t possible be young with so many problems and look healthy on the outside since it is technically an invisible disease. I look great on the outside and suffer on the inside. Due to the many comments, I began to believe that it was all made up in my head. When I was finally diagnosed. It was bittersweet and I wasn’t sure if I was happy to have answers as I never knew what was wrong my whole life or sad because there’s no cure and when I was diagnosed I already had two children and now they have a 50% chance of inheriting it. It has caused a lot of emotional strain on me as well due to the anxiety and depression.
I just started blogging yesterday and did my first introduction. My goal is to help others throughout my experiences. I don’t want others to delay their diagnosis and feel like it’s all “in their head”, I want to give them motivation and for them to know it will all be okay.
Thank you for posting the blog, it has inspired me to write even more.
-Ashley
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Great post! I think a lot of people lie to themselves because the truth means they will have to make some big changes to their lifestyle. Denial is very dangerous! Happy new year 🙂
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This great! Got me thinking about the changes I need to make.
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Hope this is just the impetus needed to get you on your chosen path. Make 2017 a year to be remembered!
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Yes..I’m ready, thanks for the motivation.
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“It’s not about denying reality, it’s about facing reality. It’s not about following a path that satisfies “WANTS;” it’s about following a path that satisfies NEEDS in order to ATTAIN WANTS”. This is wisdom here for sure. Will definitely keep this in mind. I had an experience with an ACL tear (right knee) and I am all but convinced that the root cause was my abysmally poor diet. I intuitively knew something had to change beforehand, but had ignored it for so long until disaster struck and forced my hand. This post resonated with me. Thanks for sharing.
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The two motivators in life both start with the letter “P.” They are PAIN and PLEASURE. Both effectively cause us to change patterns of behavior. Why a majority of people choose PAIN over PLEASURE is confusing.
Glad this post got you thinking. Consider following a path in life because you KNOW it is the right decision rather being forced to discover it. It is more rewarding and minimizes succumbing to self destructive patterns.
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