Day 1 of 31-Day Series
Why does health matter? The question seems ridiculous. Without your health you could lose the ability to perform daily activities, or worse, the ability to live.
But you and I take it for granted. I don’t wake up in the morning and say, “I’m so glad my heart is pumping blood so well, my kidneys are flushing toxins, and my waistline fits into my jeans.” If I did, I might have other health issues that should concern you. So why concern ourselves with it at all?
My best friend lives in Los Angeles now but hails from the Midwest. He’s one of the most caring and thoughtful individuals I know. And many years ago he pushed me to look closer at my own health. He helped lay a foundation for what I do now. But while he was living in Missouri, he overlooked an incident that would change his life forever.
One normal summer day he headed out of his house for a trip into the woods. He went there often to pray and allow himself to hear and think clearly. This particular day was one like any other, except for a small annoyance from a spider that had bitten him on the leg. He didn’t think much of it being the tough guy he is. It’s hard to let an arachnid bother you when you can bench press most mammals.
But that little spider bite left a nasty mark. Instead of heading to the doc, he toughed it out, hoping it would go away if he didn’t pay it any attention. And it eventually did. The mark went away but many months later something else showed up. Chad began experiencing odd symptoms, like muscle twitching and shortness of breath. Those became stronger, and he sensed an attack on his heart.
Doctors began blood tests to try to pinpoint the cause. Chad began to study his symptoms on his own. He had mercury fillings removed from his mouth. He rid his home of toxins and chemicals. He even had a procedure performed on his heart to try to stop what they thought were premature ventricular contractions.
It took nearly three years to find out that Chad had been bitten by a different type of arachnid – a tick. And this tiny little tick carried Lyme disease. He now spends every hour of everyday trying to defeat this infection and multiple co-infections. Failure to do so could mean losing functioning of his body.
Obviously Chad did not invite this disease from his own lack of concern for his well-being. But he knows if he would’ve dealt with it early, he may have avoided an incredible amount of pain and suffering. We both struggle with that fact. He now also has to wrestle with the possibility of transmitting the disease to his wife and remaining childless to avoid passing the disease to their offspring. My wife and I pray for them on almost a daily basis.
The decisions you make with your health not only affect your quality of life. They affect others. Not all of our health concerns have this severity. Your friends and family probably won’t suffer from five extra pounds in your posterior. But they all would benefit from a balanced approach to caring for your body.
Stay with me. Tomorrow you’ll hear the details for the plan to help you achieve prime health.
Good article! Just wanted you to know I shared it on my FB page. I used the button, above, and it showed the “share” message, but then wouldn’t load on my page. I don’t know if it was the link or my computer that didn’t work 🙂 Anyway, I copied and pasted the URL instead. Have a good one!
Thanks Jenifer! I appreciate the heads up and the Facebook share! I was having trouble with my share bars last night after an upgrade. I’ll take another look today and hopefully have it fixed for tomorrow.
[…] eventually won’t matter much. When we began our series together a month ago, I shared a story about my best friend Chad. I met Chad soon after college when we served in the same Christian […]