Is it Worth the Price?

The price for the years of poor nutrition is brutally high.  And it’s not just the person who ignores their health that suffers.  The ones who love them suffer deeply, as they hurt when they see their loved one suffer.   We have all heard of people with emphysema and lung cancer who will take off their oxygen mask to smoke a cigarette, because the ‘addiction is too strong’.    How selfish.  They are hurting the ones closest to them more than themselves.  It’s the same with food.   People know they are sick and yet refuse to give up the very things that caused the sickness to begin with.

Is it really that the addiction is so strong, or the will to live is so weak?  Are most people so unhappy that their very instinct to survive is lost?  Is it that the addiction provides so much relief from the pain of life that they are willing to accept the suffering of disease and degradation of their bodies in exchange?  Is it that life isn’t worth living to them, so the greatest joys they have are destructive habits of food, cigarettes, alcohol and drugs?  It has to be. It has to start with emotional breakdowns.  No other animal on earth purposely destroys its own body, taking in substances that it knows are harmful and toxic, and yet continues to do so despite the known consequences.   Only humans seem to enjoy destroying our bodies, defending the toxins vehemently and refusing to stop the behaviors, making jokes about it and knowingly continuing to ingest processed foods, chemicals, toxins and pure-out poisons.

Life is so precious.    Yet the world today treats life with no respect, no value, and no love.  Someone very dear to me recently lashed out at me for my eating habits, saying that I could get hit by a bus tomorrow and that what I was doing was stupid.  That I should ‘enjoy life’ more.  I responded that if I do get hit by a bus, that I would die in the prime of my life, free of pain, free of disease, fully functioning in every aspect of my physical body, in vibrant health and boundless energy, enjoying life and love.  To me, enjoying fabulous health beats the heck out of the transient pleasure of toxic foods that lead to disease and suffering.  Been there, done that, got the surgery scars.  No thanks.  I choose a vibrant life.  Nobody controls the length of their life, but they certainly control the quality.  This person responded that they didn’t want to live very long, and that they were going to enjoy themselves while they can.  How incredibly sad.  Do most people feel this way?  That life isn’t worth fighting for, isn’t worth living?

I could go into a diatribe here about how to create meaning and purpose in life, but many people go before me who are much more articulate and educated than I.  Seek them out.  Learn from them.  Apply what you learned.  I just feel that to have a great life, you have to have a great purpose.   Otherwise, what is life but mere existence?  Maybe your purpose is enjoying your great-grandchildren and being able to play with them as well as you did with your own children.  Maybe you want to reach out in love and generosity to help those less fortunate.  Maybe you want to accomplish great things and change the world.  Maybe you just want to relax and spend time soaking up the sun enjoying the fabulous beauty of nature.  Whatever it is, your purpose is the key to a life worth living.

And remember, when you are the most down, focus on others.  There is no better way to feel better than to help someone else.  Never look down at anyone unless you are helping them up.

So many people are hurting right now.   They are losing their jobs, their homes, their possessions.  I can certainly understand why they feel life is a painful prison and isn’t worth living.   Life is full of challenges, and some of those are horribly painful.  I wasted many years of my own life focusing on pain and negativity, before I learned that it was my choice.  By choosing to change my focus, I began to attract beauty, happiness and love into my life.   It’s so true.  You get what you focus on.  Focus on your strengths.   Focus on your power, your freedom, your unique qualities, and most of all the blessings you have now.  Be grateful.  Every day look for things to be grateful about, and focus on those.

Be Defiant!  Fight for Your Health!  It is truly your most valuable asset and possession, and the price of losing it is far too high.

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