Prioritize health. He did not and this is what happened
In our world we are defined by what we do, achieve, whom we know. So often in our fast lives, we place these values on a pedestal, as if they were “us”, our true selves. And yet, our bodies sooner or later bring us back to the real truth: health of our bodies, the quality of our sleep. We forget to prioritize health, to see that these are the true pillars of everything else.
He did not choose health at first
Just recently I visited a person close to me. He is in his seventies, has had a very active life, full of activities,created businesses, had many connections, and money. A very bright, wonderful person. Yet, in his busy life, health was not seen as important, his backbone overused on many occasions. Moreover, there was pain, but it was ignored. Until a very dramatic moment a few months ago, when the body could not continue this way any more. It broke, with high blood pressure, horrific pain, several organs deteriorating. He started aging very fast. Next, cancer showed up.
Health is first
As we chatted, my heart was full of compassion and love. I believed that everything is possible and it is doable to heal the body and bring health back. I strongly feel this way. But.. why wait for the dramatic moments, when our bodies tell us: stop or we will die? Why not take small steps that change our habits, and take care of our health long-term?
The image of the person is on my mind, telling me, showing me the truth: Health is first.
Become devoted to sleep
At EcoHealthLab we are devoted to sleep. We prioritize health. Both our own experience, and what we see in the lives of those who are close to us, show us, that it is where everything starts. The history of the man is a shining example of what we need. You see, he truly did not realize, that the body has its limits. Moreover, worked like crazy for years, and fuelled it with stress as well. Untill, the body said: stop. He became a half of himself. Now he eats well, relaxes, but, he nearly died.
Where should we start if we want to prioritize health?
Start with sleep! This is where all begins. We spend 1/3 of our lives sleeping, and it is not just time for relaxation. Additionally, it is the time when our brains cleanse and remove the waste material from the entire day. Just imagine this: your brain uses approximately 20% of your total energy requirements. That means a lot of things to clear from all the processes that take place throughout the day. Moreover, lack of sleep leads to the accumulation of amyloid plaque in the brain. The plaque is associated with the development of the Alzheimer’s disease. We wrote about sleep in
Prioritize health
If we do not prioritize health, it may happen to all of us
I want to go back to the story of my friend. He healed cancer, and is slowly coming back to life. But, his entire life started circling around survival and health, pushing aside everything else. Those things that were so precious in his past years: Businesses, money, having more and more, vanished from his mind. I do not know who said it, but it is so valuable” Many of our current solutions will be our tomorrow’s problems.” But, it doesn’t need to be like this.
Start small
Finally, I do not feel that we need to become saints or monks who remove all the achievements and work from their lives. But, what we may start from (apart from prioritizing sleep), is to give yourself sometime throughout a day to simply be. Sit and do nothing. Moreover, this is what Charlie Munger did. Charlie was Warren Buffett’s friend and business partner. Indeed, he said:
“We both (Warren Buffett) insist on a lot of time being available almost every day to just sit and think. This is very uncommon in American business. We read and think.” Charlie Munger
Start small. Give yourself a quarter of an hour to simply sit and do nothing. Moreover, not even reading a book, but breathing and feeling. I do it, and I love it. If Charlie Munger can (he is one of the greatest investors in the history), we can to. Further, he also said, that what we need to do first, is to eliminate toxic people from our lives, but it is a thought for another story.
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