of American adults had at least one of 12 major chronic conditions.
A letter about what comes first
Stop.
Before the career. Before the money. Before the projects. Before almost everything else. Your health has to come first.
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Look at what is happening to us
Death is only part of the story.
In the United States, the leading causes of death include heart disease, cancer, injuries, stroke, chronic lung disease, Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, kidney disease, liver disease and suicide.
Together, the ten leading causes account for roughly 71% of American deaths.
The overlap is the point
More than three out of four.
had two or more.
of people 65 and older had at least one.
older Americans in the study had none of those 12 conditions.
A CDC study examined 12 major chronic conditions, including heart disease, cancer, stroke, COPD, kidney disease, diabetes, hypertension, obesity and depression. Diseases overlap, so these figures should not be added together.
The postponement habit
We keep saying “after.”
- After the deadline.
- After the business succeeds.
- After we make enough money.
- After the project is finished.
- After life gets less busy.
The foundation
Your body is not another project inside your life. Your body is where your life happens.
Your body supports your heart. Your body and heart support your mind. Body, heart and mind form the foundation through which we experience everything else—our relationships, ambitions, creativity, happiness and whatever we understand as consciousness or soul.
When that foundation fails, almost everything else suddenly becomes secondary.
Ask someone waiting for biopsy results. Ask someone undergoing chemotherapy. Ask someone learning to walk again. Ask a family watching Alzheimer's take someone they love.
Suddenly the meeting is not very important. The email can wait.
There is one overriding thought:
I want to be well.Why wait until illness teaches us the value of health?
An important correction
Joy does not come after health.
We often organize life as though we must first survive, then become secure, then become healthy, then succeed—and then someday we can enjoy ourselves.
That order is backwards. Joy is part of health.
StressFearIsolationRelationshipsSleepMindBehaviorPhysiology
Joy cannot merely be the reward waiting at the end. Joy belongs inside the journey.
A compass for living
Joy is information.
Pain tells us something. Exhaustion tells us something. Anxiety tells us something. But so do peace, energy, connection and vitality.
That does not mean every pleasure is healthy, and it does not replace medicine, evidence, doctors or treatment. But joy can be a compass.
What do I have to force myself to do so I don't get sick?
What way of living makes me feel more alive while also making my body and mind stronger?
- What movement do you enjoy?
- What food leaves you feeling better afterward?
- What relationships bring peace rather than chronic stress?
- What environments allow your nervous system to settle?
- What gives you energy?
- What does your body repeatedly tell you yes to—and what does it keep telling you no to?
We override the signals
We postpone life.
We work through exhaustion. Stay awake when we need sleep. Remain in stressful environments. Postpone play. Postpone relationships. Postpone happiness.
Later.Later.Later.
But the purpose of protecting life is to live it.
Take inventory
So stop. Look.
Your bodyYour mindYour habits
Your sleepYour foodYour movement
Your stressYour relationshipsYour joy
Work with doctors and qualified health professionals. Prevent what can be prevented. Detect what can be detected. Treat what needs treatment. Improve what can be improved.
But do not turn health itself into another joyless obligation.
There may be hundreds of things you want to accomplish. But there is only one place from which you will experience every one of them:
Here.
In this body.
With this heart.
Through this mind.
In this life.
Health first.
But not health so that someday you can live. Health as part of living.
Survival should be the foundation. Health should strengthen the life built upon it. And joy should help guide us toward the kind of life worth protecting in the first place.
Protect lifeBuild healthFollow genuine vitalityDo not postpone joy