So, you got your Covid vaccine. Great! Now you can go back to living your life as you always had. You’re safe now. The boogie man can’t get you. You are protected from the cooties. Good for you!
This pandemic has taught me a lot of things. The one big takeaway is that the majority of Americans suck at keeping themselves healthy. We don’t take responsibility for our own well being. We know that sugary drinks and snacks are bad for us and keep on consuming them. We teach our kids to do the same with our example. We know that little or no exercise is a death sentence. Yet, there we are sitting on the couch. Alcohol and tobacco are poison to our bodies but alcohol sells like the sugary stuff. It just flies off the shelves. Fried foods, lots of red meat, boxes of ingredients that aren’t even real food. None of the fast food places are folding. Liquor stores aren’t going belly up. We’re as responsible for our health as toddlers in traffic.
Our faces are in machines all day. Diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity are like nationalities. It seems everybody’s got one. Skinny people have disappeared from our country. Throughout the pandemic I heard people say “He was a super healthy guy and he got the Covid real bad.” I’m sorry to tell you that nobody who is super healthy got any disease real bad.
It’s as if we have completely lost direction on what it actually means to be a healthy human. Maybe, we have never actually known what that is. We’re living longer but we’re more sick than we’ve ever been.
The idea that you can go get a shot and now you’re safe is the stuff that science fiction is made of. It’s a “health care” system that has duped a complacent populace into believing that they have no control over their own immune systems.
Since the vast majority of you don’t want to eat well, exercise or take care of your spiritual well being you’re probably better off with the vaccine and all the potential effects of a not fully vetted by the FDA medication. It astounds me the number of people who have fallen all over themselves to get shot up with who knows what? I’m not here to argue the merits of the various vaccines, though. I have no background for that.
What I’d love to see is for people to come away from this pandemic with a renewed sense of self care. I would love to hear more people say, “Wow so many people got sick and quite a few actually died from a disease that seems to have unaffected others. What can I do to change my life so that I have a better chance of staying healthy, getting more healthy and living a longer life?” “How can I change my behavior?” “What can I learn from this besides just getting a vaccine?”
Why aren’t more and more people, by the 100s of thousands lining up for exercise or nutrition classes? People with diabetes and obesity were far more likely to get really sick and succumb to Covid-19 than other populations. What are all of you doing about your conditions? Why isn’t this more important to you than waiting for and then lining up by the millions to get a vaccine?
There’s another part to this, too. In my opinion it’s actually more important than your diet and exercise. It’s your spiritual health. To me this includes mental and psychological health. Your health and wellbeing goes far beyond your physical form. Maybe that’s why so many seemingly healthy people get sick and pass away. Maybe, eating well and caring for your body isn’t enough.
We have lost touch with our connection to nature. We are actually a part of the natural world yet, we hold ourselves apart from it. Why? We search for meaning outside of ourselves. We look to others for approval and value. Why? We have so much to unlearn. We don’t have to believe in God in a traditional sense or even a higher self. We do need something in our lives that’s greater than we are, some kind of purpose or meaning. Something that uplifts our spirit.
Your health and well being depend on your willingness to take care of your spirit. They depend on you to love and care for yourself. Your immune system, the very system that keeps you healthy, or not, depends on you to take extra special care of that part of you that is not physical. You, actually loving you, can improve your health immeasurably. Consider giving the attention you give to your job, your spouse, your collection of things and stuff, to your mental and spiritual wellness. This is the colossal shift that I was hoping to see from the pandemic.
No vaccine will save any of us from our complete lack of regard for our spirits. You may not get sick and die from Covid, with your vaccine but, if you don’t take better care of your spirit, your health will suffer. I guarantee it.
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Previously Published on medium
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