Before I can start this blog I have to give you a little family history. Sharon's Mother was born with a congenital heart defect. In fact, she wasn't expected to live into her teens. They also told her that if by some miracle she did survive past her teens, she should never consider having children because her heart would not withstand the strain and she would surely die. I've always teased June and told her that she's one tough cookie. She has lived to be a Senior Citizen. She had two children (one for whom I am eternally grateful to her for not listening to the doctors) and lived to see two loving grandchildren. And, up until a year or two ago, she was a non-stop going concern. Unfortunately, now she is entering the inevitable disability years of her life.
Okay, with that background, I can now start the blog.
The other day as Sharon came in the door after a visit with her Mom at Sunnybrook Hospital, I knew instantly that something was bothering her. How did I know? I knew because Samson, our male Black Lab has always been very sensitive to Sharon's moods. He is Sharon's self-appointed guardian. If she takes Samson and Delilah out for a walk without me, he will march out in front with his head held high and growl under his breath at anything that he thinks looks suspicious. Certain scary looking men; anyone wearing a hat (I'm pretty sure he thinks that hats are some kind of monster attacking people's heads and we should be careful to avoid them); as well as drag along suit cases and bundle buggies. Oh yes, he also is very suspicious of people in motorized carts. When they are at home, if he thinks she is upset in any way, he will hover around her and try to cheer her up. You can actually see the concern in his eyes. Sharon knows how sensitive he is and she will always try to reassure him and calm him down. I can't even give her an adjustment while he is present. He will try to push his way in front of me and looks up at me as if to say, "Okay Dad, I think you need to calm down here; there's no need for you jump on her; she really didn't do anything!".
Anyway, back to the blog. I asked her what was wrong. Was she worried about her Mother? She said that although she was worried about her Mom, that wasn't what was bothering her. What was bothering her was seeing room after room after room of sick and disabled people. She found it depressing to realize how many people's lives are shattered with disabilities. I agreed, and after discussing the statistics of disability with her, we both reaffirmed that we were going to continue to do all we could to make and keep our bodies as vital and healthy as possible.
All of us love to hear that statistically the average life expectancy is on the rise for both men and women. Statistics Canada reported that in Canada the average life expectancy for the year 2001 was 82.0 years for women and 76.9 years for men. That was an increase of 0.8 years for women and 1.5 years for men since 1996. If that trend continued, it wouldn't be long until 100 years was the average and that's a good thing right? Unfortunately, that isn't the whole story. They love to tell you the good news - makes them look good - but they try to minimize the bad news - makes them look not so good. The bad news is a thing called disability statistics. You see, although the average woman in 2001 was living to 82.0 years, the last 11.2 years of her life was statistically spent with a debilitating disease or problem - a disability. For the average man, Stats Canada reported that they spent the last 8.6 years of their life disabled. So, in 2001 the average Canadian woman only lived for 70.8 years before she lost her vitality and freedom to do all she wanted to do. Men lost their vitality and freedom after only 68.3 years.
These statistics are actually quite alarming. Even though life span was increasing, and that's good, so too was the number of years with disability, and that's not so good. Although the average Canadian's life span increased, so did their years with a disability. What it means is that our quality of life is not improving. Rather, we have to deal with longer and longer periods of our life suffering with either a mental or physical disability. In fact, our quality of life is deteriorating so much that for the first time since they've been analyzing the stats, our younger generation are projected to live a shorter life span than their parents. That is totally unacceptable!
The main reason I find these statistics alarming is that the majority of these disability years are 'lifestyle related' and that means that they are completely avoidable. You may be like Sharon's Mom with some sort of congenital problem and have no choice but to ultimately face down the disability years, but people like her are the exception to the rule. The vast majority of us face the disability years because of our lifestyle choices.
We may be enjoying the so called 'good life' now while we eat our burgers, pizza, fries, sugary drinks and big decadent desserts. We may think it's great to stretch out on the couch every night to watch TV. We may think that we are getting away with over stressing our bodies with lack of sleep, alcohol, cigarettes and stress out the wahzoo. But when these things come back and bite you by stealing your health in your senior years, you won't think it was such a 'good life'.
You won't have much quality of life if you're in the hospital recovering from a heart attack or stroke because you overindulged the greasy foods and you clogged up your arteries. You won't have much quality of life if you are recovering from an amputated limb from uncontrolled diabetes or trying to learn to live without your vision because you damaged your circulation with too much sugar. What is your quality of life going to be like if you end up with lung cancer or emphysema from years of smoking?
I'm not trying to be all doom and gloom. I'm not trying to be a spoil-sport either. If there was nothing we could do, if we were all doomed to go through the disability years, I wouldn't write this blog. Indeed, if nothing could be done I wouldn't even have a job. But I am writing this blog and I do have a job...SOOOO...that must mean that there is something that can be done. For the vast majority of us it isn't inevitable that we face all those years of disability. It doesn't have to be that way or end that way.
There is an old saying that goes something like: 'Quality of Life, not Quantity of Life is what counts' and I couldn't agree more. What good is living longer if I can't enjoy it because I am incapacitated either mentally or physically? Why would I want to work hard all my life if I wasn't going to be vibrant enough to enjoy my retirement to the fullest?
Sharon and I have found the solution that will greatly increase the odds that we will be able to fully enjoy the majority of our senior years. The solution is quite simple and I'm betting that every single one of you deep down inside already know what the solution is. The solution is a little more commitment to some Healthy Eating, Healthy Moving and Healthy Thinking. By adding just a little bit of healthy lifestyle back into your life, you decrease the disability years a little bit. Add a lot in and you decrease the disability years a lot. The more healthy things you do, the more you eradicate the statistical probability of disability years. And, best of all - It's FUN!!!!!!!!! It feels wonderful to get fit by moving our sedentary bodies. For some of us it has been so long since we've eaten anything but processed food that we've forgotten how fantastic real, unprocessed foods can taste. Most of us push ourselves so hard that we've forgotten how great It is to wake up feeling refreshed or what it's like to be able to just relax with loved ones or friends and simply enjoy being alive.
Sharon's Mom feels that one of the reasons she was able to beat the odds for so long was regular chiropractic wellness adjustments. She has sworn by chiropractic for many years (like her daughter, for a time, she even worked for a chiropractor).
'If it's going to be, it's up to me!' These words ring true when it comes to health. No one is going to do it for you - nor can they. The health of you and your family is up to you. If you don't make the commitment, it isn't going to happen. It's that simple. Wishful thinking doesn't work here.
Sharon and I have made the commitment to try and be healthy. Over the years we
have moved more and more towards a healthy lifestyle. We exercise regularly six days a week. Our diet is absolutely delicious and 'squeaky clean'. We take professional grade supplements. We constantly try to challenge our brains with learning activities and studying (our brains need regular exercise too). We use biofeedback computer programs for stress reduction. We try to guard our eight hours of sleep each night. And we get regular chiropractic tune-ups (adjustments). In that department, Sharon is the lucky one because she gets an adjustment on demand (if Samson will allow it). On the other hand, I am just like you. I have to make an appointment each week for my wellness chiropractic adjustment from a colleague. But I know it's worth it because I intend to live my life to the fullest and minimize my disability years. How about you? What are you willing to do to minimize your disability years? What are you willing to do to help your loved ones live healthy lives too?