Health is everywhere these days. You can't open a newspaper or
turn on a television without seeing health in the news. Like it or not,
health is all around us. Why is this? Well, for starters, it is
important. Most notably, health is a hot topic because we have let it
become an area of stress in our lives.
Think
about the news stories that we see along with health. What else is on
the news? There is war, political scandals, crime and crisis. All of
these subjects have one thing in common: Stress. When we see these
stories they evoke emotion and cause us to feel anxiety.
How did
health get on this list? Shouldn't we be feeling good about health and
healthy living? Well, we should be, but unfortunately that isn't the
kind of story we are getting. We are getting the lack of health in most
news stories. One can argue that this is simply because that is the
state we are in now. Our health has gotten so bad that there is only bad
news to report.
One can say that. In fact, I've said that we are
in a serious situation regarding our health. I see the news, so I know
that there are general problems. More importantly, I work with people,
so I see that there are personal problems.
I see that we all want
to be healthy. I also see that it is difficult for the average person to
be as healthy as they want to be. I see that the status quo is actually
causing more and more problems for us and making it more and more
difficult to live healthy or even to avoid declining health in our
lives.
What can we do? It is important that we emphasize the word
DO. If we do nothing, we will continue to go down the path of poor
health. By closing our eyes and taking what is given, we will not get
where we want to go. By eating what is offered at the cheapest, most
convenient foods, we will not get where we want to go. By letting our
schedules be made for us and going with the flow, we will not get where
we want to go.
The only way to take the stress out of health is to
switch things around. We have to stress health. By stressing health, we
can stop letting health stress us. This is more than just a play on
words.
Think about it:
When we see the stories about health
on the news, what are they telling us? They are telling us that the
health of the world is in jeopardy and we are all heading the wrong
direction. They are telling us that what we are doing is killing
ourselves and our kids. They are telling us that we are not doing it
right and are suffering the consequences now and in the future.
As
we continue to hear messages like this, it gets easier to believe them.
It gets easier to look at our own routine and say, "Wow, I am
unhealthy." While it may be true, it doesn't mean that things have to
stay this way.
That is the first step in turning things around. We
need to understand that health is ongoing and long-term. Health is not a
one day or one week topic. The studies and reports that we see are done
over many months and even years. That data may point to negative
trends, but that doesn't mean we can't change them.
That is the
next step in turning things around. We have to change. If you are going
with the flow and taking only what's given, you are likely part of the
trends that we are reading about and seeing on the news. If you are not
actively focused on your own health, you are likely stressing about it.
By
looking long-term at the life you really want, you can start to make
changes to make it a reality. By doing nothing, you can only give
yourself more issues to stress about. No one wants to be unhealthy. No
one wants stressed out. But for some reason that doesn't seem to be
enough to motive us to change.
Maybe a new way of looking at
health will help motivate people. Maybe we just need to change our
focus. Letting health issues stress us is only going to lead to more
stress. Physical, emotional, financial and all other kinds of stress
will be the norm if we are not actively managing our health. All we have
to do is reverse that model by stressing health. More importantly, we
are stressing healthy habits. When we have health we are able to stress
the important aspects of life: feeling good, having energy and enjoying
our time. Without them we simply stress over the problems that come with
poor habits.
It may be a play on words, but stressing health
instead of letting it stress you can really be the key to changing the
trends. By making health an emphasis at home, work and school, we can
take control. That control allows us to stop stressing about the
problems of poor health and start reaping the benefits of good health.
Business Health Expert Joe Byrd uses his passion and expertise to
bring business and health together. He integrates health education in
lifestyle topics such as Stress Management, Weight Management, and
Smoking Cessation into businesses in order to accomplish the following:
Improving Employee Health
Decreasing Health Care Spending
Increasing Your Employee Productivity
Improving Employee Satisfaction and Retention
