Only the strong will survive, the weak will die, it is the law of the jungle, there is no room for the weak!
You don't really believe that, do you?
In 1963, Professor Leon C. Megginson in his book "Lessons from Europe for American Business" wrote: "According to Darwin's Origin of Species, it is not the most intellectual of species that survives; it is not the strongest that survives; but the species that survives is the one that is able best to adapt and adjust to the changing environment in which it finds itself."
How can you survive in an ever-changing environment when your body has failed to keep up and indulged in an unregulated life?
What you don't expect
One day, out of the blue, you realise you are living in a body that no longer feels like your own. You can hardly believe that when you reach the last step of the staircase you are out of breath and your heart is pumping so fast. You play a five-a-side football match with friends and your legs can't hold you up. But yet, just five years ago you were running, jumping and the next day everything was normal, as if nothing had happened.
No, it is not the age, there is a problem and it is time to become aware of it and deal with it. Caught up in the busyness of everyday life, either out of a sense of duty to your family, or because of the pressure of success at all costs that society all too often imposes on us, you have put yourself aside, you have stopped taking care of yourself, and now life is starting to present you with a bill.
You don't realise it immediately, because at first it is a very slow process, barely noticeable. It starts with some weakness, some difficulty in performing some daily tasks as efficiently as before, but nothing to worry about. Most of the time you think it's just a bit of fatigue: you've been very busy over the last few months between home, work, family, friends, so it's to be expected that you don't feel at the top of your game.
At some point, however, you feel that something is wrong and you know that you have to make some changes to your lifestyle. You tell yourself something like 'from Monday I will go to the gym, eat healthy and limit alcohol', but then there is always a reason why you keep putting it off: a work appointment, a dinner with your relatives, a friend's birthday.
So the first little pain begin, 'well, it will disappear, as it came it will go away'. However, that little pain doesn't go away, it stays there, dull, and as time goes by, without you noticing it, you start not moving like before, you walk putting your weight more on one side of your body, your arm sometimes feels numb, your back is stiff, maybe you limp a little because you have a little discomfort at your knee or, even worse, you get stuck with back pain in bed for days.
All this occurs despite you didn't do anything and you don't understand how it could have happened: you didn't have an accident, you didn't fall, you didn't crash anywhere.
The hard truth
The problem lies right here, in not doing anything.
You know when they tell you, "if you don't know what to do, just wait and the solution will turn up"? Well, this is not the case. When it comes to health and well-being waiting, in most cases, is not a great idea. Thus the process starts: doctor appointments, scans, painkillers... but at the end of the day, it would have been enough to take a little more care of yourself, to say a few "no's" now and then, I would even dare a "being a little selfish" (in a good way), to LOVE yourself more.
Hearing it hurts, you know it's true, but you most likely struggle to admit it. Deep down we know that when we manage to do and give a lot, we have done our part by dedicating ourselves to others and no one can come and tell us anything, even if, unfortunately, this means sacrificing our well-being. Yes, because the opinion (perhaps it would be more correct to say "acceptance") of others matters and makes us feel good, makes us feel loved, the same love that we would like to give to ourselves, but without being able to.
So you find yourself in this situation where doctor's visits and scans have revealed nothing worrying and the doctor tells you 'you need to exercise and eat better'. You understand what they are telling you, but you have no idea what to do, where to start, you just don't know how to get out of it.
The stark truth is that, unfortunately, in 90% of cases you don't get out on your own, simply because you are still the same person who created that problem.
<<You cannot solve a problem with the same level of thinking that is creating the problem.>>
A. Einstein
So how can we change things? The first step is "taking the first step". Set aside some time every day to go out for a walk, choose to take the stairs rather than take the lift, park the car a little further away and walk part of the way. Try to eat better and limit alcohol at least on weekdays where you are less likely to go out with friends.
And if you really can't do it on your own, contact me and we'll see how to deal with it. One step at a time. One obstacle at a time.