Pay attention to your check-engine light
Our bodies are truly amazing. Created for durability and meant to last despite what we have done, will do or continue to put ourselves through, we are designed to heal.
Just like the paper cut that closes up or the broken arm where pieces of bone grown back together, the rate at which the healing takes place depends on how we respond.
We all likely know someone who fractured or broke something and didn’t realize it. Rather than acknowledge the pain, limited movement, extreme bruising, swelling etc., as a sign it may actually be broken and then visit the doctor right away, some decide to “tough it out” or “wait and see.”
Imagine how much longer and more complicated the healing process becomes when the person finally does go to get it checked and as a result of waiting, doctors now must re-break and then reset the bone for it to heal properly. And all because they ignored the warning signs their body was providing.
Just like pain, bruising and swelling were signs of a broken arm, our bodies provide warning signs to let us know when something is going on inside that we need to start paying more attention to. But are we?
People often live for years with warning signs, not even realizing there’s anything wrong. If you’re wondering how someone could fail to recognize when their body is telling them something is wrong, it’s like putting a frog in hot water. If you dropped a frog into a pot of boiling water he would immediately jump out. However, if you put a frog in a pot of room-temperature water, then slowly heat it to the boiling point, the frog stays put and eventually dies. As the temperature increased gradually the frog’s body adjusted to the heat of the water, preventing it from seeing the danger.
Many people in North America right now are just like the frog ñ up to their eyeballs in hot water and not realizing how much trouble they’re actually in.
Most people only consider the more serious health events like heart attack, stroke or cancer as a warning and the right time to make some changes. Far from it.
Having a heart attack, stroke or being diagnosed with cancer is not a warning. It is something that happens when we ignore the warnings.
Like the water temperature rising, warning signs are subtle, continuous over time, giving the illusion it’s something that just naturally happens as we age. The truth however, is that when we take warning signs seriously and do what’s necessary to eliminate them, we effectively turn off the heat and keep ourselves out of hot water.
So, what are some of the warning signs? Things like heartburn, constipation, diarrhea, bloating, fatigue, dry skin, eczema, acne, sugar cravings, salt cravings, arthritis, aches and pains, swollen hands and feet, discoloration in feet and lower leg, depression, anxiety, mood swings, sudden weight loss or weight gain, cramps, low immune system, allergies, low sex drive, headaches, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, elevated sugar levels, are all cause for concern. You may be shocked to learn that these conditions people live with on a daily basis and have come to accept as normal, are definitely not.
A warning sign showing up in your body is like the check engine light coming on in our car. It’s there to indicate something inside, or associated with the engine, is not functioning as it should. We all know that ignoring that red light and continuing to drive for any length of time without getting the car serviced never ends well.
In fact, if left too long, the engine may seize up and stop running altogether ñ a much bigger problem than simply having it checked when the warning light came on in the first place. Same goes for our health.
Our bodies are designed to heal. And when we are aware that something in our body is functioning a little differently or feeling not quite right, pay attention.
All conditions, good and bad, are created mostly by what we do — directly and indirectly — to our bodies. None of them came out of nowhere, regardless of how it may surprise you at the time.
The good news is, that if these conditions were created, then they can also be reversed.
Tania Gustafson is a licenced nutritionist and fitness coach. Contact her online at fuelignitethrive.com or by email at tania@fuelignitethrive.com.