Why Bother to Put Your Health First?

Why Bother To Put Your Health First?

The other day, in my yoga class, a new student introduced herself to me. 

“Hi, I’m Sherry,” she said as we shook hands.

“Glad to meet you, Sherry,” I said.

“You might find this odd, but I am seventy and just now beginning to practice yoga.”

“I don’t find that odd at all,” I said. “It is never too late to start a yoga practice for yourself.”

          Choosing to be Well

Though everybody knows that being healthy is important, not everyone wants the responsibility for their own well being. Only when we wake up and realize that something needs to  change, will anything change. 

Sherry knew she was losing her flexibility and balance. She believed the practice of yoga could help her to regain the ability to bend and not wobble when she walked. She was right. Her practice is helping her and it doesn’t matter that she is seventy. It matters more that her health and wellness is a priority. 

Since there is no history of cancer, diabetes, heart conditions or obesity in my family, I mostly inherited my good health. But I’ve also had to learn how to maintain what I’ve been given. 

For instance, I started the nasty habit of smoking cigarettes while still in high school. At first, it seemed like a benign routine. I even told myself that I could quit any time I wanted. But of course I was wrong and just kept smoking because it was too hard to quit. Ten years went by before quitting became a high priority. By then, my husband and I had begun talking about starting a family. I knew I had to quit for the sake of the baby we’d planned to conceive. Since then, I’ve been smoke free and have eliminated the effects smoking could have on me such as contracting emphysema, chronic bronchitis or the risk of tuberculosis. Making one healthy choice can lead to a plethora of benefits. 

When making any changes concerning your health, expect resistance. Bodies are like any two year-old and every teenager, they will put up a fight against anything that is good for them. But when a little patience, some consistency, and perseverance is applied, bodies as well as a two-year-old or a teenager, will begin to see that the changes you instigate, are for the better. 

Why bother to put your health first? Only you know what is good for you and being good to yourself is the best choice to make.

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