We are very good at making excuses for why we do what we do and why we don’t do what we should do. There is no bigger place for excuses than when it comes to health and wellness.
One of the most common excuses I hear from people today when the topic of health comes up is that it’s too hard.
There was a time in human history when there was no discussion about health and wellness. Humans just lived. In fact, that was what consumed most of their days… staying alive. This included finding food to sustain their bodies, finding shelter to protect themselves from the elements, and fending off predators. It would be accurate to say that tens of thousands of years ago, staying alive was pretty hard.
Today, we do not struggle with getting our basic needs met in the way that our ancestors had to contend with. However, healthy living is hard. Why is it hard? It is hard because common sense and tradition have been replaced with science. We have turned everything over to scientists, including food, exercise, how we are supposed to think, and even how to be happy. This should be a good thing, right? Yes… it should be… but it isn’t.
Many if these scientists work for large corporations. The corporations are in business to make money. They make money by selling more stuff. So, the scientist isn’t on a quest to improve human health and maximize human performance, they are employed to make whatever it is they are working on taste better, look better, and appeal to more people. Therefore, we have to wade through fancy packaging, artificial flavoring and coloring, well-orchestrated wording, and a barrage of direct-to-consumer marketing to try to figure out if what they are selling is actually good for us.
We are told one thing by one so-called expert and the complete opposite by another so-called expert (fat is good… fat is bad, for example). We don’t know who to listen to or who is correct. This makes it hard.
Another difficulty is that bad food tastes good. It is hard to order the broccoli instead of the French fries. It is hard to pass on dessert. It is hard to check out at the store without grabbing a candy bar or snack as it stares us in the face. It is hard to get out and walk instead of sitting on the couch watching another episode of our favorite show. It is hard to make time for family activities and functions. It is hard to carve out time each day for prayer or meditation. Healthy living is hard!
But… it’s not too hard! Saying something is too hard means that it cannot be done. It’s hard, but definitely is not too hard. You can make better choices. You can make time to fit in healthy activities. You can create healthier habits. It’s not easy, but it absolutely, positively is not too hard.
Look at it this way… as hard as it is to make healthier choices, it’s not as hard as lugging twenty, thirty, or fifty extra pounds of body weight around every day. Reading labels, passing up the junk food, and exercising regularly isn’t as hard as living with chronic pain, going for kidney dialysis three times a week, or getting hooked up for chemotherapy.
Imagine our ancestors hearing us complain about how hard we have it. They didn’t have a grocery store with hundreds of organic choices, clean drinking water at their fingertips, or the safety that our homes and communities provide. They would likely slap us for saying it’s too hard.
So, here is your slap… healthy living is hard, but it certainly is not too hard. And being sick is so much harder! Once you work through the misinformation and find the right people, companies, and products that you know you can trust and depend on, it actually becomes much easier. Healthy living may seem hard, but the alternative is much, much harder.
