“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”…not quite
“If it ain’t broke, don’t’ fix it!” This old adage is often misunderstood and overused. Even a perfectly good running machine still needs to be tuned up, polished, cleaned etc if you expect on making it last and run efficiently for a long time. Of course, if you plan on just running everything you own to the ground and then throwing it away to buy a new one, the point is moot. Human beings are not machines. Sure they can change a few parts here and there but nothing is as good as the original and the new parts generally wear out faster than the real thing. So, it becomes even more important to tune up, cleanse and maintain your body and mind regularly.
I often will ask my patients: “What do you consider to be good health?” Some will tell me it means not having any pain. Others will say it means not having to take any drugs or medications. Although I’m sure most do not want to have pain or take drugs, these are limited definitions of health. The World Health Organization of the United Nations (WHO) defines health as: … not just the absence of disease or infirmity, but the optimal state of physical, mental and social well being. Mental and social states would also include emotional and spiritual strength and well being. All these health states are interrelated. It is difficult to reach optimal physical health if you are emotionally and mentally unwell. Likewise, one of the best things to improve mental fatigue and emotional instability is to become physically fit. To continue this point further let me touch on the idea of stress.
Stress is part of our daily lives. We actually need a certain amount of stress to stay alive! Stress can be physical, mental, emotional, chemical, social or spiritual.
But these stresses do not dwell in isolation. We all have certain weaknesses. For some it’s a bad back that flares up, for others its hormonal imbalances that may cause headaches, for others it is a poor digestive system, etc. Excessive stress will aggravate your weakest link. As an example, your low back flare up may have been caused by too much digging in the garden. But it could just as easily have been from that argument you had with your spouse or the extra work load piled on your desk at the office. Inversely, when you are physically exhausted how easy it can be to lose your temper at home or how difficult it is to mentally focus on driving.
Here are two analogies on which to pause and reflect:
* Overflowing glass of water: Your body is the glass. The water is the stresses of everyday life. You have two options to stop the overflow.
* Reduce the amount of water (stress) in your life. This is only viable if your life has significant amounts of excess stress.
* Get a bigger glass. This is done by strengthening your body’s ability to cope with the stresses of everyday life. Good nutrition, exercise, sleep, mental health, a social network and a nervous system without excess stimulation and interference will all help increase capacity.
* Airplane taking off: Did you know that an airplane uses a huge amount of fuel just to take off and reach altitude? Once there, it needs relatively much less fuel to fly several hundred kilometers. Reaching optimal health is the same. Initially you may need to expend a significant amount of time, energy and possibly money to improve your health. Once there, to keep that level of health only requires smaller but consistent effort. Alternatively, you can choose to drop back down and then use another huge amount of energy and effort to improve all over
again.
So, it’s up to you. It always is.
Eventually your body is going to need fixing. What matters is how far you are willing to gamble on the long game without putting in the effort.
James DiGiuseppe is a local chiropractor with a busy family and wellness practice. For more health information or to contact Dr. DiGiuseppe visit: