You Can Be In Control Of Your Health

Feeling Out of Control

If you’ve ever been a new parent, you know how terrified you feel when your child is sick and you don’t know how to fix it.  This feels much like sheer terror to me.  But I realized that this is just a more acute reaction to a previous problem. It’s how I feel when something is wrong with me or anyone in my family too.  It’s a bit of panic mixed with dread mixed with exhaustion.  Panic at the thought of having to experience the pain/malaise of that particular ailment, yet again. Dread at the thought of having to go to a hospital or to a doctor’s office. Exhaustion at the thought of having to deal with this problem while I try to handle the myriad of other things on my schedule, all while not feeling well.

I think a lot of us have this experience.  But here’s what I’ve realized lately:

IT DOES NOT HAVE TO BE LIKE THIS! 

You know those things you kick butt at? Those things you’ve been doing for years and are so good at that when someone asks for your help in this area, you feel like a rockstar?  You actually get excited to deal with a “problem” in your field of expertise, because you know exactly what to do?  THAT is what dealing with your health can feel like! Feel that hope? It’s TRUE!  You can feel confident, prepared, in control and FREE!

Why Most Of Us Don’t Feel In Control Of Our Health

Why do most of us not feel in control when it comes to our health?  And why do we often feel anxious, helpless and hopeless? Because we’ve been taught for many years that we are not smart enough to tackle this. We’ve also been told that there’s very little to be done anyway, “chronic” illnesses are rampant – and most of the time, we should not even expect anything to really get better.  So to summarize – we’ve been taught hopelessness and helplessness.

I recently heard someone say:

“In this day and age, when sooo much information is available to you for FREE, your ignorance is a choice!”

I think that’s a little harsh but it made me think. In this area of health, I strongly believe that our ignorance is taught and encouraged.

I know what you’re thinking.

“If you’re about to add one more difficult thing to my already-long list of stuff to do, I’m gonna lose it!”

Ok – I totally get that!  So let;s look at what you’re currently doing. Why do most of us dread doctors and hospitals? Because they are inconvenient, complicated, expensive and usually don’t yield any clear answers. We usually get a prescription for something that may or may not work. We then have to schedule to go see the doctor again for a follow up to see if the treatment worked or if we have to try something else. Most often, these medications do not provide cures, but only manage symptoms and you’ll have to do all this over again soon. So you’re already spending time, energy and money dealing with your health issues in a way that leaves you pretty unsatisfied.  What if there’s a better, more efficient, more successful way?

What if we didn’t have to do this? Imagine if we could know what’s wrong, judge the severity of it and treat it all in the comfort of our own homes? What if we could get all that power back? Don’t get me wrong, I’m so very grateful for the doctors, emergency rooms and research facilities available to us today! There are endless situations in which we need them desperately: accidents, weird diseases we’ve never experienced before, emergency crises, sudden onset of anything unexpected, etc. But remedying the ailments of our daily lives should not be one of them.

I’m not saying you’re going to do so much research and learn so much that you’ll be qualified to diagnose and treat people. I’m saying you can and should research and learn enough about YOU and your kids that you feel prepared and at peace. We are already way ahead of any expert because we each know our bodies better than anyone else. You know what your weaknesses are (when and how you tend to get sick most of the time). You understand in great detail what has and has not worked for you in the past. Most of the time, we can feel when something is “off” way before any symptoms or tests could tell a doctor. What if we could learn how to handle our own bodies better? What if we didn’t have to fear the next time we get sick because we won’t have to figure out one more major problem or make another visit to the doctor. And what if we developed a protocol that works for us and prepares us for when those times come?

another post you may like:

How Can You Take Control Of Your Health?

Here are some simple examples. I used to get a severe sore throat which eventually became very painful. It led to high fevers, being in bed for days and losing my voice. I, of course, went to the doctor and they prescribed antibiotics. I took them, got better and we did the whole thing over again a few months later. It was a cycle I could not break. My nephew gets sinus infections very often. He goes to the doctor, gets antibiotics, gets better and does it all over again the next time. My friend tends to get UTI’s – they are very painful. She understandably dreads them. She goes to the doctor, gets antibiotics, gets better and repeats the whole process again a few weeks later. Sound familiar? Ear infections, fungus, strep-throat, the flu, etc. Of course there are some bigger ones, but the patterns are similar. Heart health issues, diabetes, auto immune diseases and so forth. Most people take some sort of medication which works at times, but the disease ‘flares up” pretty regularly, at which point they will go to the doctor and start the whole process over.

Your body is pretty predictable, especially to you. So for my sore throat issue, I got desperate after endless rounds of antibiotics and I started researching and “trying” different things. Clearly the infection kept returning after taking antibiotics so the root of the problem was not fixed. So I did what the doctors do: “Let’s try this and come back for a follow up.”  So I “tried” improving my immunity in a number of ways, over and over until I found what actually worked for me. I did this proactively and intentionally, not waiting for the next time I got really sick. I pretty quickly developed a protocol of foods (garlic, lemon, ginger, homemade soup), supplements (probiotics, vitamin C, echinacea, goldenseal) and essential oils (oregano, On Guard). This protocol not only greatly improved my healing process when I got sick. But it also significantly increased my immunity. My sore throat episodes got more and more rare. I now barely ever get a sore throat and I know exactly what to do to get rid of it immediately. No inconvenience, no days in bed, no going to see a doctor.

My friend who had to deal with frequent UTI’s similarly got fed up with the repeating pattern. She researched and tried things until she figured out her protocol. She did a couple of cleanses (Crisis Intervention Formula by Vibrant Health & a Candida cleanse). And she started drinking a lot more water (2-3 liters a day at least). Her immunity greatly improved.  She got some supplements (probiotics, Cran naturelle, vitamin C) and essential oils (Oregano, Frankincense, On Guard). Again, this protocol not only greatly helped her when she got a UTI but it also improved her immunity to the point where she got them less and less often. Now she barely ever worries about them. And when she feels a little “off,” she knows exactly what to do before it even gets painful. No inconvenience, no pain, no going to see a doctor.

Never Feel Helpless Again

These are simple examples, and I am aware that there are much harder ones to tackle. But here’s the wonderful thing about taking control. YOU CAN FIGURE IT OUT! Just like you have with every other difficult situation in your life until now, you are fully capable of figuring this out. You absolutely CAN be a rockstar at this and NEVER feel helpless again! You are spending time, effort and money now anyway – why not refocus all of that into a long-term understanding and protocol that puts you back in the driver’s seat where you can breath confidently and be at peace?

We are not made to be helpless creatures. With the endless amount of information available to us today, it is impossible not to be able to learn and find solutions. You have the power and the resources to understand your body and find the best solutions for your long-term health. Don’t worry about becoming an expert or learning everything about everything – that’s going to drive you nuts! Learn that ONE thing about YOU! Learn how to heal that ONE thing in your body or in your kid’s body. You CAN do it and you will find empowerment and peace in accomplishing this.

Here’s the wonderful, unexpected result of doing this. You actually begin a process of gaining knowledge and understanding that will serve you far beyond this current problem. It’s like buying a new car. Before owning a Mazda SUV, I never noticed them. Now that I own one, I see them everywhere. By researching and tackling that one thing in your body, you will inadvertently start learning and noticing more and more truth about your body, your environment and what affects your health. Like anything else you practice, you will become more and more confident in this and you will have to depend less and less on others.

Quality Is Paramount In This Process

I cannot stress this enough:

QUALITY! 

Like everything else in life – you get what you pay for. So if you are trying to find foods, products, supplements and oils that make a difference – they must be high-quality & pure!

• An actual organic lemon will give you great benefits (vitamin C, cold & flu fighting power, etc). However,”lemon flavored” liquid in a bottle will give you NO benefits and may make you sicker (especially if it contains other chemicals or sugars).
• A whole-food, high-quality supplement will provide vitamins, minerals, probiotics, etc. that your body can absorb and desperately needs to heal. However, your body may not absorb a cheap, untested, wannabe supplement. It may even do more harm than good.
• A pure, therapeutic-grade essential oil will provide incredible support to your immune system, detoxification and healing process. However, a cheap adulterated oil will put germs, heavy metals or adulterants into your body, which can provoke adverse effects.

This is not a new concept – we all know that quality is important. But unlike a cheap shirt that shrinks in the wash the first time you use it, putting something inferior into your body is not just ineffective, it can also be dangerous.  And since you are trying to develop a protocol to help heal your body – not just this time but in the long run – quality is essential.

Leave me a note if you’d like some recommendations.  I’ll be glad to share what I’ve learned so far 🙂