Carolyn Hansen: You are the only one empowered to make choices for yourself

The truth is, your health is your responsibility. Photo / 123rf

OPINION

What constitutes wellness? Is there a difference between wellness and health? Are they complementary terms?

With all the scientific studies and research readily available on disease prevention these days we are starting to understand that health is not just the absence of disease or simply "not being sick".

It is about way more than that … it is about prevention; about seeking out proactive ways to a higher quality of life NOW, of focusing on staying well now and not just acting like a "sitting duck" waiting for disaster and disease to happen.

It's about taking positive action steps now that create the lifestyle changes we need to make … not waiting for disease symptoms to appear and then reacting out of fear.

We are much more likely to experience a health span that equals our lifespan when we've taken control and taking responsibility is the only way to do that. After all, it really isn't about how long you live that counts, it's about the quality of life you enjoy while living that long life.

Sickness care is reactive in nature, treating disease symptoms after the fact.
Wellness care is proactive and prevents poor health and disease and slows the ageing process.

You are consciously participating in one of these two areas; inviting disease in with poor habits or preventing disease in the first place with healthy habits. You are the only one empowered to make those choices for yourself.

A wellness mindset is one that focuses on the attainment of higher levels of health rather than an absence of symptoms.

Not only does it mean you are free of disease, you are not at risk of them either. Even if you already have poor health, this healthy mindset focuses on finding and eliminating the causes rather than treating symptoms as the present "health" system does.

There are billions of dollars spent on "sickness care" yearly as causes are ignored and symptoms get treated, yet our health keeps spiralling down at an alarming rate. One out of every two individuals is now experiencing some sort of chronic "lifestyle" disease such as cancer, diabetes or heart disease.

This "sickness industry" treats disease and sickness after it appears as all sorts of drugs are dished out for every possible condition; antibiotics for infection, anti-inflammatory for pain, blood thinning drugs for heart disease, Ritalin for children and the list goes on and on.

Sickness happens, while wellness and good health are something you must practise daily if you hope to reduce the risk of sickness and disease and slow the ageing process.

Truth is, your health is your responsibility. There is not a doctor or drug on the planet that can offer you a strong, healthy disease resistant body nor one who will ever care as much about your own body as you do. The responsibility is yours.

Your daily diet, exercise habits and lifestyle habits are the real contributors to your health or the destroyers of it and only you are empowered to change that. You can avoid the "disability zone" in the future but your actions towards that goal must start now.

It's time to move from a sickness/curative" mindset to a mindset of "wellness/prevention".

Carolyn Hansen is co-owner Anytime Fitness