The cost of health maintenance

[Guest guest]

We are nearing the post-holiday season of sobriety,

when people are looking for ways to economize.

 

It may be tempting to try to save by skipping whatever

measures you normally take to stay healthy.

Whether it is body work, high-quality foods and

supplements, making time for exercise, or a combination

of all.

 

A word to the wise from bitter fresh experience:

Getting sick is more expensive than maintaining health.

 

I rarely get colds or flu.

 

My last cold was two years ago (exactly at Christmas)

and I could pinpoint what behaviours had led to it.

Not enough water, not enough exercise, too much dairy

and over indulgence in cheap chocolate chips while doing

Christmas baking.

 

Apart from that no bug had got the better of me

for two years. I must admit to being a bit smug and

self-righteous about it, as I scoffed at all offers of flu

vaccines and swallowed my whole wild food supplements.

 

It appears this was hubris, the kind of pride that comes

before the fall.

This time I had been pretty much behaving myself

health-wise but a flu bug got me anyhow.

 

With a cold I can generally feel something nibbling at

the edges of my system and nip it in the bud with my

trusty kick-ass home-made Echinacea.

 

This thing came like a sudden wave.

I Googled Flu symptoms, as opposed to colds, and the

whole thing fit like a glove. Sudden onset, all-over achy,

total loss of appetite, and cold symptoms starting afterwards,

with lingering cough and fatigue.

 

Compared to other people in the neighbourhood I am doing

great. Back to almost-normal after about a week, cough

gone, still a wee bit tired, and with a disgusting cold sore

under my nose that just has to take its time to heal.

 

But here is the point I wanted to make: I had forgotten

how expensive it is to get sick!

By the time we add the cost of Kleenex, Buckley's, (the stuff

that tastes awful and works) extra lemons and honey, and

cancelled Reflexology clients, we are looking at around a

hundred bucks right there.

 

So, whatever I am economizing on in the New Year, you

can be sure it won't be health.

 

Ien in the Kootenays*************************"Never mind what the book says.God gave you a brain."~A.T. Still, founder of OsteopathyWho is this Kootenay person anyway?http://greatestnetworker.com/ien**************************