You Can Choose...

I was listening to NPR the other day and they were discussing technological gadgets that can make our lives better and the guy speaking was talking about a gadget that made it easier for you to keep track of how many times a day you had to take a particular prescription med and then another gadget that was his blood sugar monitor that spoke to him and then could download the information to a database which his physicians could then also access.

What really struck me was when he said, many people today, myself included, are dealing with diabetes...and I thought to myself, when did it become so normal for us to have chronic diseases?

When did we transform our conversations about our health into an acceptable level of illness as normal?

I thought, well, of course, that's how we live now, think about it…. I’ve had people proudly proclaim to me when they're above 50 and not on any medications.

It is so rare to be over 50 and not on meds we proclaim it like a badge we won….

On the converse, I’ve had other people basically say, “oh, I'm on the usuals, some blood pressure medicine, some cholesterol medicine, an antidepressant, metformin”... the usuals.

When did we change our perception of our body, our health, and our expected experience to the point where we accept chronic disease as normal??

Because, make no mistake, those are chronic diseases, high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol they are ALL chronic inflammation and that's chronic disease.

Yet, almost 40% of the US population is taking one of these drugs…..40%!!!!!

How is this normal? How is this just part of life?

Let’s think about how F#@$ed up that is, so many of us are thinking, well, that's not that unusual, I'm not so concerned, most of my neighbors have this problem too.

If this is you...I have to ask, are you prepared to accept an early death because of this blaze attitude toward having a chronic illness?

If I were to say, well, it's just normal, everybody amputates a finger in their life, you'd be like, no, they don't, that's not normal to cut off a finger.

Why is it normal to adopt a position that it's okay to take on health conditions that invariably end in early death, if not at least a miserable aging experience?

Because like it or not, diabetes turns into pain, it turns into loss of limbs that turns into digestive problems, it turns into memory and in brain issues, and it is always connected to inflammation. The same thing can be said about high blood pressure, putting you at risk for stroke and heart attack.  Or Thyroid disease putting you at risk for autoimmune conditions, or long-standing fatigue putting you at risk for cancer...these are the consequences of these issues.

But in this paradigm we now live in, instead of saying...how can I heal...how can I avoid this...how can I solve this...we are touting how easy it is to keep track of all the toxic everyday meds we have to take to not ever end up solving these issues.  

Does anyone else think that we've entered a rather bizarre world where our expectation of our best life is mediocre. We are taught to want our best life financially, but for our healthy life, we're taught to settle. When did that happen?

When you were born, did your parents say:  I hope that this child will have a mediocre life filled with doctor's visits and chronic illness? No.

When you had kids, did you say, I hope this child will have only diabetes and heart disease and nothing more serious than that? No.

Then why are you accepting that for yourself? Why are you just acquiescing?

People have said to me “Oh, I have four autoimmune diseases, but I'm sure everything's fine.”

Or…”I can barely get out of bed in the morning and all my joints hurt...but I think I just need some water and it will all work out”

Not to be flippant here, but this philosophical acceptance of illness has infected us so deeply, I am growing concerned it will result in a population of people too ill to create community, and compassion, and change in the world.

Many might as well say…”I’ve given up” “I’ve decided everything is too hard” or “It costs too much” or  “I won’t dedicate the time” or “I'm not willing to be that honest with myself.”

I am going to ask you to do something difficult…. I want you to own where you are right now...sit down today and ask yourself in all honesty...am I participating in my own demise?  Have I filled my life with distractions so I don’t have to feel what this life is doing to me? Have I accepted chronic illness as a given? Am I operating under the assumption that it won’t get worse if I just don’t give it energy?

If you feel resistance to these questions, do the following...

I want you to sit down tonight and I want you to write. I'm cool with having a chronic disease. I'm okay with it. I accept it...and see how it makes you feel.

Now, if you had no resistance, or if you did and already wrote the above statement….

I want you to write, I deserve vibrant health and I am willing and ready to participate in experiencing that in my life regardless of what it takes….and see how that makes you feel.

Ask yourself, would I do anything to feel vibrant, energetic, sexy, sensual, and healthy every day?

Now, if your answer is yes, first, burn the negative statement if you wrote and second, decide to take action….what needs to happen for you to live fully alive? What are the steps? What will you need to access?

We cannot have a thriving society if we live under a pervasive belief that illness is inevitable and albeit normal. Worse than that, we don’t stand a chance of having a compassionate, caring, calm, visionary society if a significant percentage of us are worn down by illnesses we have decided are just parts of normal life.

My clients get the path to freedom from that paradigm, what would that do to your life?

Blessings

Dr. Julie

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