Forget Health Insurance, INVEST in Health Assurance
[Disclaimer: I believe in the importance of having adequate health insurance (think life events (ie pregnancy), catastrophic events, bad luck, etc.) so take a breath, I am not about to tell you to flush your insurance coverage.]
I believe in modern medicine. I believe in doctors. I also believe in self care & personal responsibility.
Health insurance is not health protection. Paying for health insurance is not paying for health. It provides you absolutely nothing in the way of personal wellness care. Having health insurance is not your okay to check the box on your health and move through life. Yet sadly for many, it is just that- a figurative check mark in the name of health.
We can’t control our genetics. We can’t control acts of chance. And we can’t control a virus that continues to wreak havoc amongst us.
In a time when most everything has become a hot debate topic, where politically charged divisiveness is the norm, and hate speak (or type) over any opposing view is standard, we have the opportunity and the responsibility to come together as a community and actually do something about it.
Because one thing very few will argue is that regular exercise is beneficial to the strength of your body’s natural defense system. Another thing few people will contest is the health-boosting ability of good nutrition. And another thing few will debate is that those exercise & nutrition habits in conjunction with adequate sleep & stress management practices drastically improves one’s mental health.
In fact, you likely know people who tend to focus on their nutrition and fitness, generally speaking, fair far better than the rest when it comes to any sort of illness, be it cancer, or the current menace, Covid-19.
We have seen all sorts of studies showing those in better health, be it in regard to underlying conditions, vitamin D levels, overall fitness, mental attitude, etc, handle C19 far better than those who let their health deteriorate.
It seems almost stupidly simple to have to spell it out: Your focus on your health can dramatically protect the quality, extend the length, and improve your ability to live your life in the face of all known aggressors.
And you can do this NOW. No reason to wait. All illness is dangerous. We have strongly correlated solutions to help us defeat them or prevent them from ever developing, yet so many aren’t doing anything about it. Why?
Ask yourself, what is stopping you from making these necessary changes?
What is keeping you from minimizing sugar, alcohol, and buying more veggies (which are FAR cheaper than sugar and alcohol by the way, so please don’t use your budget as an excuse)? What is keeping you from exercising? What is in between you and getting out of the house for a walk each day? What makes a gym membership, which costs anywhere from $0 (your living room or sidewalk), $12 (Planet Fitness) to $1200 (Personal Trainer) per month “too expensive”? What makes it okay to succumb to a $10,000+ hospital stay when you could have spent a fraction of that and potentially avoided the hospital bill altogether? What causes you to say “I don’t have time” for the extra 30-60 minutes a few times per week you would need to invest in yourself to see positive progress? What keeps you from changing your nutrition? Is it too difficult to walk to the trash can and toss the candy you have in the house or buy more fresh veggies you don’t even need to cook to snack on (think broccoli, carrots, celery, cucumbers, etc.)?
These are questions you must ask yourself and answer honestly.
Yes, this is blunt and to the point, but this is my responsibility to you as a professional health & and wellness coach.
If we are willing to go to the doctor for every little ache and pain, pop pills for all ailments , and spend thousands on thousands on those visits, bills, scripts, & health insurance deducts year after year…if we can do all of that, and more, in an attempt to minimize damage from an illness, then why don’t we, along with the media, politicians, etc. bring attention to and promote the simple physical and mental things we can all do to ASSURE ourselves improved health via nutrition and exercise and literally save thousands of lives?
The economics of the time (and money) spent on your nutrition and fitness are almost exponentially positive, for you and for our society as a whole.
Invest in yourself and your families. Use these tools. Lives depend on it.