Thoughts on Selfish Health

I had a lady call me yesterday. She loves her Alphion water alkaizer and drinks her two litres a day religiously. She had been to a Chiropractor and Kinesiologist for her recurrent bad back. Now 56, she was told in her early thirties that her back was a write off and that she should expect deteriorating symptoms as she aged. The Chiro worked on her neck, and then using kinesiology, came to the interesting conclusion that she was 'electrolyte deficient', selling her some sodium and potassium ascorbate; a less acidic form of Vitamin C supplement - (even though she didn't know what it was until I told her)

She was worried about this diagnosis. Did it mean the water wasn't helping her? Did it mean she was too acidic or too alkaline? Did it mean she couldn't hope for relief from her back pain?

I pondered the diagnosis. I remembered years ago when Cassie was referred to a gastric specialist who used some big latin term to describe her condition. We went home, Googled it, and found we'd just spent $150 to be told she had a problem stomach. Hey, we knew that already!

So what was this 'electrolytic imbalance' all about? My caller hadn't asked the practitioner what it meant. Did it mean she was too acid, or did it mean she was too alkaline? Both could be termed electroytic imbalance. After all, that's what acid/alkaline balancing is; an increase or decrease in the proportion of positively charged hydrogen ions to negatively charged hydrogen ions. And how would Vitamin C help her bad back or her 'electrolytic imbalance'?

But here was a lady in some distress because, like us, she had paid for and was taking supplements for, a diagnosis she didn't understand! I attempted to fathom it by a bit of reverse logic; if the practitioner had prescribed Vitamin C in a less acid form then her 'electrolytic imbalance' may have meant she was still too acidic.

But why didn't the practitioner say that?

You know, we have access to the biggest medical change technology in the world right now. It's called Google and for some practitioners it's a curse, for others a blessing, depending on how important it is for them to maintain authority over their clients. If it is important for a practitioner to feel in control, Google represents unnecessary intrusion and perhaps wasted consultation time as the practitioner tries to explain that alien life forms have not been implanted in your blood by invading species last full moon. I understand the problem; I spend quite a deal of time explaining to people that what they read on the net about alkalizing water is not necessarily so and that they really do need to trust me if they want me to help tham.

However, education is enlightenment and enlightenment is freedom to choose through awareness rather than ignorance. The very fact that information - if you know where to look - is available on every aspect 0f your health - is a challenge not only to practitioners -but to each and every one of us.

The break came for my client when she said 'You know, I didn't feel right about what the practitioner said."

She began to talk about her own past as nurse and how she had always been able to keep abreast of health issues. She was disapponted, perhaps - that she had allowed the practitioner to dictate what she needed and give a diagnosis she couldn't understand.

I believe that the more we give away our power, the more it will be taken from us. Power, like everything else we do or say, is a habit. And habits can get out of control. It's too darn easy to give away your own power of health management. then you can blame the doctor, Big Pharma, the government, the environment, pollution... it's just too easy to be a victim. And yes, it is harder to be a hero. But we all need to be our own hero. we all need to learn what it is that allows us to be the wonderful entity we have become. It is our vehicle of life; our body. And if we give it less care than our computer or car, then we can expect to inhabit it for less time and in less comfort.

Imagine if a knight in shining armour galloped up to your door today and said "I give you more power than you have ever known to control your own future." Would you be scared of the change it may involve? Or would you grasp it with both hands and bless your luck? That's what is being offered today. The power to manage your own health future. The power to remain a hero rather than a victim.

Sure, I also speak with many people who have health conditions that seem to have come to stay with no evidence of any victimhood on the person's part. Yet even with these people there are some who remain in contact with me. I think of one; she reads this letter so I'm not going to use her name - who is extremely debilitated from rheumatoid arthritis, that most cruel of visitors. Yet every time we talk I walk away feeling better because she is still not a victim. She still gives, she still explores, she still helps where the moment allows. If I am ever stricken with a similar condition I hope and trust that the example she has given me will be strong enough in my mind to model my own response upon her.

Health management may seem selfish.. until you come to understand that staying healthy is a prerequisite to remaining in service of others.