While driving with a friend today, I found out that she ate tomato soup that completely attacked her digestive system and left her feeling sick for a few hours. We spoke about health, decisions, commitments......we spoke about her hair falling out, about the extra weight, about the digestive complaints, and consistent tiredness that she experienced. She lamented that she couldn't bring food to work as she did not have the time. There was no time. I listened with compassion because I remember going through the same process of decision making that she is currently going through when I made a quality decision to change my lifestyle.
I remember my own health issues that sparked the change. I couldn't sleep enough, I couldn't focus and concentrate on my friendships the way that I used to, I wanted to nap and then sleep 10 hours at night, my moods were low most of the time, I felt old and I was 25. That is what did it. I am not going to be an old 25-year old.
My brothers used to make fun of me for my supposed lack of common sense when I would talk to the "wrong" strangers, or end up signing a contract for something that left me with nothing of value and the business or person with complete advantage over me, or when I announced to as many people as possible that my parents' were out of town and that we were having a party......haha...
When it came to the moment, when I was 25 and feeling old, my common sense kicked in. Surely the Chai tea lattes', bread, pasta, chocolate, and ice cream were contributing to the oldness type feeling. There must be something wrong with my diet.
Decision making is so vitally important and I remember some of the most important decisions that I made in my life. One such decision was my decision to attend Vanderbilt University after high school.
How did I make the decision? I traveled to schools in California, North Carolina, and Tennessee. After I thought I toured enough schools, I found another school to research and visit. I compared all the schools to schools in Minnesota although I knew that I was going out of state. I thought, I journaled, I emailed, I talked to my friends, I talked to my parents....eventually it came down to the decision.....I make decisions intuitively. I have a gut reactions to decisions that I need to make. I feel my way into a decision.
With Vanderbilt, I felt my way into the decision. Visiting the school, staying with a friend, and walking the campus, was enough. I knew. I saw myself walking the campus, meeting friends, going to classes. More than seeing it, I felt it. It was true and it was the decision I needed to make.
Once I made that decision, every action that I made sent me in that direction until I was there. I couldn't believe it and yet I could. It was perfect, it was difficult, it challenged every part of me and broke off certain parts of me while adding new parts.......it was the right decision. But it wasn't the easiest, the fastest, the cheapest........in fact, quite the opposite, it was the most expensive, the hardest, and the slowest route I could have taken.
Seems to be a theme in my life.....haha.....
With my quality decision to become healthy and to change my lifestyle, I had to do the wrong thing with my food choices and health for long enough to feel the effect. And once I started feeling the effect, I had to decide if it would continue or if I would invest in my health.
Lifestyle change is not easy, cheap, or fast. It is hard. However, anything of value is not easy, cheap, or fast. Lifestyle change has been exhilarating, challenging, exciting, fun, and so valuable. It has been one of the most valuable decisions that I have made.
The extra energy, the focus that I can have on my friendships and family, the extra thought, time, energy and love that I can put into people makes the entire process worth it. And now, I am making a business out of helping people through the same process that I went through.....and it is more rewarding and exciting than anything that I can do with my time and resources.
Unfortunately, in America, many people have not made the quality decision to invest in their health through nutrition and lifestyle change...the result, many of us are sick. Many people are having organs removed, surgeries, drastic medical intervention simply because they have not made a quality decision to be healthy and to chose health daily.
It takes guts, it takes dedication, it takes an iron, unbending will. However. we all have will-power and when we make the decision, it amazing how the hard becomes easy and the challenging becomes fun and exhilarating over time...
Have you made the quality decision to invest in your health? If not, think about it. Talk about it. Explore the possibilities. There are solutions to your health issues, you just have to be seeking them out.
