Who is responsible for you?
People in our society so often think others are responsible for them: the pastor or priest is responsible for their spiritual life and the doctor is responsible for their health. In practical life I often had the experience that people expected me to solve their problems and then they sat back, waiting to see the results of my efforts!
Fortunately there are people trained and equipped to help in problematic situations. That is their responsibility: to help. They are, however, not responsible for you and me.
Let us focus on the area of health care. Those who are the healthiest and who ultimately enjoy the best quality of life are the people who take responsibility for their own health. You cannot ruin your health by careless living and then, when the diseases come, expect that the doctor must repair all the damage resulting from a shabby lifestyle over many years.
- The first step in taking responsibility is a decision to care for and better your health from this day on.
- The second step is to obtain information about your specific needs by reading books or finding information on the internet (not anyone’s ideas, but solid scientific information).
- The third step is to start changing your lifestyle in the light of the knowledge you have gained: change your daily program to make room for times of rest, relaxation, meditation and exercise. Eliminate unnecessary stressors and handle the remaining stress in a correct way. Give special attention to your diet by eliminating all junk food and eating real nourishing food. Start to drink enough pure water.
- The fourth step is to attend to all your relationships: bad or broken relationships can be a heavy burden on the health of your body.
- The fifth step is only necessary when problems crop up in spite of all these adaptations – you invite an expert like a medical doctor, a counselor or a physiotherapist (or any other person that can help in a specific area) to join you as a team and help you. This person works for you and is being paid for the work. He or she helps you, but does not take over your responsibility! This type of teamwork has great benefits: the expert does not feel the heavy load of total responsibility; you take decisions together and you are willing to give your whole hearted co-operation!