A Pearl Of Great Price

How important is your health? What amount of money would you be willing to pay to buy health if you could? Would it be worth a million naira to you? It’s a relative question, isn’t it?

If you are reasonably healthy, you may want to spend your money on something else. If you only suffer with a complaint or two, perhaps you are tired once in a while but overall you’re doing fairly well, you might not be willing to shell out as much as someone else.

What is wellness worth? Ask patients in hospital cancer wards that same question. Most would agree that they would pay any amount of money to regain their health. Ask the parents of a terminally ill child. A million naira is a small ransom to pay the disease that has taken their son or daughter hostage.

Health is a priceless possession, more important than the houses, cars, furniture, jewellery, and other assets our culture so highly values. Strength and stamina —gifts most of us receive at birth— can be maintained or lost during a lifetime, depending on the receivers’ stewardship.

The World Health Organisation, WHO, defines health as a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing  and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.

Sometimes we don’t realise the value of something  until we have lost it.

A friend called Dorcas was this way. She possessed a remarkable immune system, one that was faithful to protect her in spite of her assault on it.

A frightening diet of coffee, doughnuts, ice cream, alcoholic drinks and fast food, combined with sedentary job, to pile on the kilogrammes (in spite of the concentrated bitter herbs she wouldn’t stop because it “kept the weight off”).

But she never got sick. Friends and families begged Dorcas to change her lifestyle. At the time, it didn’t matter to her. Today it does, however. She now has cancer. Dorcas is facing death, and she’s urgently searching the Internet for somewhere, anywhere, to find healing.

If good health were a place called wellbeing, would you be willing to travel there if it were a thousand miles away? Five thousand? Ten thousand? Dorcas would, because when you lose something important, you desperately want it back.

It becomes the pearl of great price to you. If you are in Dorcas’ shoes, wanting to recapture your vigour, remember the Chinese proverb, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Vibrant health may seem out of reach for you now. You believe you are too far gone. But we know you are not. People at death door have regained their health and even gone to levels they haven’t previously  experienced.

I know this from experience, when I lost my health some years back. It was a severe case of arthritis due to excess weight. I had to study extensively to learn how to rebuild my body through nutrition and lifestyle changes. When I began my restorative exercise regimen, I could literally only walk a few steps before I was forced to stop and rest. I have travelled great lengths to regain my health. And I’m still on that journey.

In my future articles on Body Confidence, you will benefit from my experience of losing and recovering my health. The Body Confidence programme that I now use for my clients was developed out of years of researching medical journals and health books, brainstorming with physicians and nutritionists, attending medical conferences and courses, consulting with experts, and experimenting on myself and other patients.

A healthy attitude is one that finds a balance between current pleasure and future benefits. It allows freedom for flexibility  and occasional indulgences without sacrificing health and wellness. A healthy attitude says,” it’s my body and my choice. I’m choosing this.”

If you need a little more motivation  for making some positive changes in your eating and weight, here’s a powerful fact that could dramatically extend your life.

Did you know that eating a very nutritious diet of 30 per cent fewer calories can add 30 per cent more time to your lifespan, in addition to supercharging  your overall health? This means that if you expect to live to the average age of 75 years, you can increase that amount to approximately 97 years just by eating less. I strongly agree that eating less is a proven method to increase longevity.

I encourage you to forget about all the reasons you have failed in the past. Today is a new day and a fresh start. My purpose for writing this article is to help you find solutions, not excuses. It doesn’t matter what challenges are holding you back. If you want to achieve victory, you must find solutions to those speed bumps.

FIVE IMPORTANT STEPS TO IMPROVE

YOUR HEALTH

1. The quality of your nutrition must get better.

2. The amount of food you eat should be done in moderation

3. The way you move and exercise should be purposeful.

4. The way you relax and sleep keep you from undue fatigue.

5. The way you respond to stress and worry is important. Don’t get too emotional.