Brilliant and Sick

Sick
Why? How? How come we are sick? Why is heart disease the number one killer in the United States? It should be something we can hardly control like cancer, but it is not. It is a disease that we are mostly inflicting upon ourselves.

When I look up basic information on heart disease, I see this:

High blood pressure, high LDL cholesterol, and smoking are key heart disease risk factors for heart disease. About half of Americans (49%) have at least one of these three risk factors.

Several other medical conditions and lifestyle choices can also put people at a higher risk for heart disease, including:

• Diabetes
• Overweight and obesity
• Poor diet
• Physical inactivity
• Excessive alcohol use

People I love have many of these problems. Most of these. So what is causing us to have all these symptoms?

Speaking to some friends, they agree that it is stress, which oddly is not listed above or on that website link. How much is stress getting to us with our jobs, family and all the demands in our lives? Stress causes us to overeat, not sleep, make bad decisions, be sedentary. When we are not feeling well, life is not fun.

Momentum
Momentum is a funny thing. Snowball comes to mind. We start down a path and we pick up speed. 

There must be some joy in it for a time, so we stay there. We don't fight against it. Perhaps we find acceptance in this place. There are others who have also gained momentum in this area. But we do not realize all that we have accumulated through the ride. 

Perhaps on the way down in the back of our minds, we start thinking that we should do something, but we don't.

And we are busy. We have jobs to do and work to accomplish. We just don't have time to deal with that part of our lives. One day...

By the time we get to the bottom of the hill, we are in danger and we have to look inward to know what to do.

People Are Brilliant
I work with some of the most amazing people who have incredible work ethics and brilliant minds. They are able to conceptualize things so quickly. They build out solutions to problems that many would not be able to dream of.

Other people I know do incredible things and are able to serve others in a huge capacity. They are Teachers, Landscape Architects, Builders, Managers, Salespeople, Truck Drivers, Delivery Drivers, Financial People, Restaurant Workers, Artists. The list goes on, but one of the main things these people can all do is work really hard. 

And it seems to me that our country is built upon the backs of people who have worked really hard to get it there.

To be so sick and out of shape seems incongruous with our tremendous work ethics.

We have to be wondering how we are sick when we can do so much, when we can accomplish so much.

Why Me?
Why am I sick? We need to ask ourselves this question. Most of us seem to know why or at least we have a pretty good idea. Many people blame their weight or chronic conditions. Many are just procrastinating until a day when there will be so much more time to do things. But let's face reality. By the time that day comes, we will probably be too old to accomplish much.

First, let's find out what is wrong. Go to the doctor and have some labs run. 

• Blood pressure
• Cholesterol
• Blood sugar

Let's find out what your vitals are. If cholesterol is bad, let's visit that. Blood pressure too high, perhaps we need to work on stress. Blood sugar too high or too low, another path too. These are basic vitals that require our attention NOW!!!

We want to live! Let's live as long as we can! Let's take care of ourselves now so we can feel better.