Your car came with a maintenance schedule that is designed to optimize the life of the car. If you care about your car, it means that you take all of the necessary steps to protect your investment by following the maintenance schedule and taking care of other needed repairs as they come up.

You, on the other hand, did not come with a maintenance schedule. The sad truth is that many people take better care of their cars than they do themselves because they do not prize their own health and wellbeing as much as they feel they need their transportation. Sometimes, the car’s main function seems to be just getting you to all of those doctors’ appointments.

Depending upon your current health status, you may visit your doctor/s often or hardly at all.  Either way, a good question to ask yourself is “What am I doing to stay as healthy as I can for as long as I can?” You can do more than just taking pills with their potential side effects.

The reality is that most of the top killers today are lifestyle related, regardless of your family history. In other words, it’s about the lifestyle choices that you make. Just because you inherit certain genes doesn’t mean that you have to continue with a lifestyle that is detrimental to your health.

Cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, depression, autoimmune disorders…all of these conditions are greatly impacted by stress, diet, lifestyle habits, depressed nervous systems, our home environments, etc. Until we change our focus from the curing of disease and the alleviation of styptoms to the propagation of optimal health, we will continue to fall short of our potential wellbeing.

In most cases, your body has the capacity to heal itself as long as there is the proper balance and flow of energy (life force). According to acupuncture and Chinese medicine, your body has a meridian system (invisible pathways in the body) that delivers energy to every body part right down to the cellular components.  When this meridian system is properly functioning, it reduces inflammation, relieves pain and promotes good health. With the focus of this article on your health, you should know that true health is much more than the mere absence of illness or symptoms. It is also not limited to your body. In addition to a healthy body, it includes mental and emotional fitness.  

True health includes a general optimism along with good physical fitness and a well-balanced energy system.  So, the key to staying healthy is not to depend on pharmaceutical solutions from the outside, but rather to stimulate your innermost healing layer (your meridian system) first and then optimize it with layer upon layer of healthy, productive lifestyle habits that honor your body and mind and their capacity for optimal health.

Rmember, your car can be replaced if it stops working. What about you? If your body is like a broken down old jalopy and you’d rather be more like a well maintained and smooth running car, then consider taking some extra steps in your life to create better health for yourself and your loved ones. Everyone will be happier for it.