One would think we would be a bit more enlightened

People’s inability to take care of their own health and wellbeing is baffling to me.

If people are deeply impressed with themselves for doing basic grown up tasks like staying home from work when they’re sick and spending real money on the things that their bodies need, that’s not an achievement that deserves public affirmation.

It’s called being a mature adult. People have been doing it for centuries.

There was a study done recently that interviewed two thousand people in their twenties and thirties and a few hundred healthcare professionals. The results showed seven out of ten respondents believed that younger generations were unsure about how to lead a healthy lifestyle or treat minor ailments such as colds and headaches.

In fact, only forty percent of respondents felt they knew enough about taking care of themselves. T

his is precisely what baffles me so. We live in the greatest technological age known to man, where our phones give us instant access to all the world’s information. One would think we would be a bit more enlightened about how to take care of ourselves by now.

Apparently, though, we’re choosing not to play an active role in managing our health and wellbeing.

But why? Why is this so difficult for us when all the resources seem to be at our fingertips?

Is it because toughness has been sold to us as virtue and there’s social pressure to keep up the façade?

Is it because slowing down and making ourselves a priority is counterintuitive to our workaholic culture?

Is because we view this life as a competition and put pressure on ourselves to perform more and more or risk being left behind?

Is it because personal care seems like a luxury and we feel guilty for having to take extra time for ourselves?

Is it because nobody gave us the tools to cope with stress in healthy ways that nourish our mind, body and spirit? 

Is it because we feel like we should be invincible and able to handle everything on our own?

Is it because we don’t feel we deserve to take care of ourselves?

Is it because we believe our value is solely tied to what we produce and people won’t love us if we do?

The short answer is, yes. All of these elements contribute to this problem.

But the good news is, none of the solutions are external. We don’t have to wait for permission to put ourselves first. The call for better health and wellbeing is, as usual, coming from inside the house.

Because pressure is a choice, and we don’t have to make that choice if we don’t want to.

The question is whether we’ll love ourselves enough to overcome the centuries of cultural conditioning and decades of childhood trauma to actually make ourselves a priority.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
How long will you keep pretending that healthcare is an issue that the someone else has to solve for you?