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What You Can Do
Whether we are self-quarantined at home or an essential worker out in the world, we are all experiencing a broader range of emotions than usual during this COVID-19 pandemic. Many are being overwhelmed by feelings like anxiety or frustration. Rather than focusing on our helplessness, I want to present the idea of focusing on things we have absolute control over. Why? Because such focus is empowering and gives us something we can do that will make a difference in our days at home and perhaps even in our health. How do I do this, you ask? My reply: consider the multitude of decisions you are making throughout the day.
You make these powerful decisions to do or not do things all day long. Some decisions you are conscious of, whereas others are done automatically, like internal or external programming that has evolved into your “habits.” Think back on decisions you made in just the last 24 hours that ranged from what you chose to eat and drink to how much sleep and exercise actually happened. In reality, these decisions were the results of using your personal power to choose what actions you took or did not take. These decisions were lifestyle choices.
Why am I making such a big deal about these common, everyday decisions? Because these decisions can impact the quality of your health. When the American Holistic Health Association was founded three decades ago, the government statistics reported that 53 percent of the quality of our health was determined by our everyday choices. Today, it’s estimated to be in the 70-85 percent range. This increase is a result of the medical community’s gradually documenting that what individuals are doing or not doing daily is contributing to the majority of the serious chronic conditions that 50 percent of the people living in the U.S. are being treated for. You have heard this list of lifestyle choices before––eat a healthy diet, get enough sleep, exercise, stop smoking, moderate any alcohol consumption, have healthy relationships, and keep your stress level down. But when did you last consider HOW you can improve the quality of your health by addressing a list of optimal lifestyle choices? When COVID-19 arrived, the top priority in my life became looking at my lifestyle choices. I started doing online researching to better understand exactly how my body was designed to keep me healthy. I learned that my body––like yours––is bombarded every day by a long list of nasty things, like bacteria, viruses, mold, fungi, etc., some of which could make me very sick. So why am I not constantly sick? I learned and was reminded that my body has an amazing, built-in immune system.
