Find Your WHY Before Your Doctor Does
I woke up today to the annoying chirp of a smoke alarm signaling low battery – have you been there? I pulled the blanket up to muffle the sound… tried to think if we have a 9V battery…thought about pulling it down but didn’t want to take out a ladder. The “annoying” was masking the reality – the meaningful reality – the chirp is trying to save my life!
Not sure if this applies to you – but I would say the same pertains to me and seeing a doctor. I delay a physical until I have lost weight and make sure my blood pressure is under control and my cholesterol numbers are on check. My wife (wisely) says just go – better for the doctor to understand where you really are than some artificial state.
During a recent physical I mentioned my family history of esophageal cancer – and guess what, the doctor scheduled me for a “2-fer” – endoscopy and colonoscopy – up and down, as they say in the trade! I am happy to report that both tests came back negative and they both provided something far greater – PEACE of MIND! I vaguely remember going through the procedures – the procedures that I dreaded and imagined as being the worst things imaginable. What’s the moral – “Our fear of consequences is always worse than the consequences themselves” says Shawn Achor in The Happiness Advantage.
Have YOU or someone close to you been diagnosed with an illness or had an accident or trauma that totally changed your or their lives? Where doctoring becomes EVERYTHING? If so – a few things become very clear
· Health is EVERYTHING! The “things” that consumed us are totally unimportant. The meetings, reports, etc. that kept you up at night are forgotten – its ALL about getting better and regaining (some) quality of life.
· The doctor and the tests and treatments you dreaded are NOT frightening anymore.
· You WISH you had been more proactive in being healthy and making better life choices.
I saw this recently on LinkedIn – I am not sure of the source:
STEVE JOBS, THE CEO OF APPLE, DIED A BILLIONAIRE. HERE ARE SOME OF HIS LAST THOUGHTS AND WORDS:
"I reached the pinnacle of success in the business world. In others’ eyes, my life is the epitome of success. However, aside from work, I have little joy. In the end, wealth is only a fact of life that I have become accustomed to. At this moment, I am on my sick bed, and recalling my life. I realize that all of the recognition and wealth in which I took so much pride, have become meaningless in the face of my impending death.
You can employ someone to drive a car for you, and to make money for you, but you cannot employ anyone to bear illness for you. Material things, when lost, can be found, but the one thing, that can never be found when it is lost, is your health and eventually your life itself…
Six Undeniable Facts of Life
1. Don't educate your children to be rich. Educate them to be happy, so when they grow up they will know the value of things, and not just their price.
2. "Eat your food as your medicines, otherwise you have to eat medicines as your food."
3. The one who loves you will never leave you for another, because, even if there are 100 reasons to give up, he, or she, will find that one reason to hold on.
4. There is a big difference between a human being and being human.
5. You are loved when you are born. You will be loved when you die. In between, only YOU are in charge of your life.
6. If you just want to walk fast, then walk alone. However, if you want to walk far, then walk together.
I use the penny funnel as MY analogy of life. You have likely done this – drop a penny in the hyperbolic funnel and watch it spin slowly around the large circumference seemingly defying gravity until it gets toward the bottom, the vortex, where the penny picks up speed, spinning rapidly and then, drops out of sight. To me, that is a perfect metaphor for our lives and our goals should be to
Maximize the time spent at the top – living the life we are meant to live - while making sure we are PREPARED when we get to the vortex
Make NO mistake about it - we will reach the end of our lives! As a loved one told me in his last days – “be happy and have no regrets.” I have taken his words to heart and they drive my actions every day!
How about you – are living your life, so that at the end, you will have no regrets?