We are so caught up in the world of THINGS that we have forgotten that we work to live not live to work... This thought can take several dimension but today I want to pick the one that can be a different between life and death.
We were in a state of shock when we found out that just a floor below our home, our neighbor's relative - a very bright young executive barely 37years of age, after a family get together and banter went to sleep and never woke up. The family members can not get rid of the guilt that he was asked to sleep because "he was talking too much, and didn't let others speak". Never had any symptoms one would worry about. Another shock came just a few days ago when one of our researcher friends went home and while giving dance lessons, just collapsed. And never opened her eyes.
These two events were shocking, more so because I don't know when I went for a complete physical exam and totally unaware of the Inside Story. While living in the US, preventive health checks were at least an annual affair; but in India, too caught up on the roads and procrastination that in the last five years never went to hospital for a complete checkup.
We treat our cars and other toys better than our bodies. We go for regular oil change, regular maintenance services, tire re-balancing etc. We observe performance degradation of our laptops and mobile phones and go for upgrades. But I wonder if we care about our own body and mind the same. If I had a very expensive dog or horse, I will never let them smoke, drink or stay awake all night - too expensive to risk. But we often mistreat our own bodies even worst.
The recent events did alarm me and I did go for a complete health check. End result - my sedentary life style has started showing up on the health performance numbers. Fortunately, the effect is yet only showing up around my belly and regular exercise offers me hope of recovery. I will not forget Dr. Chavi's one liner - "60min of exercise daily, diet control because I don't want this fat that is currently on the belly to accumulate on your arteries". She also seeded in my mind - "Feel guilty if you are sitting for eating without completing your 60min workout". Both her pearls of wisdom are so far doing the trick. I feel much better that at least I am inspired to do what is in my control.
How about you ? When was the last you went for a health check? Especially if you are above 30 and even more important if you are above 40. Let us at least offer our bodies same respect that we are offering to our cars and other gadgets. The intent of this writing is not to scare you; but to invite you to reflect on "do you know your inside story?" and "are you doing your best to stay healthy?".
We were in a state of shock when we found out that just a floor below our home, our neighbor's relative - a very bright young executive barely 37years of age, after a family get together and banter went to sleep and never woke up. The family members can not get rid of the guilt that he was asked to sleep because "he was talking too much, and didn't let others speak". Never had any symptoms one would worry about. Another shock came just a few days ago when one of our researcher friends went home and while giving dance lessons, just collapsed. And never opened her eyes.
These two events were shocking, more so because I don't know when I went for a complete physical exam and totally unaware of the Inside Story. While living in the US, preventive health checks were at least an annual affair; but in India, too caught up on the roads and procrastination that in the last five years never went to hospital for a complete checkup.
We treat our cars and other toys better than our bodies. We go for regular oil change, regular maintenance services, tire re-balancing etc. We observe performance degradation of our laptops and mobile phones and go for upgrades. But I wonder if we care about our own body and mind the same. If I had a very expensive dog or horse, I will never let them smoke, drink or stay awake all night - too expensive to risk. But we often mistreat our own bodies even worst.
The recent events did alarm me and I did go for a complete health check. End result - my sedentary life style has started showing up on the health performance numbers. Fortunately, the effect is yet only showing up around my belly and regular exercise offers me hope of recovery. I will not forget Dr. Chavi's one liner - "60min of exercise daily, diet control because I don't want this fat that is currently on the belly to accumulate on your arteries". She also seeded in my mind - "Feel guilty if you are sitting for eating without completing your 60min workout". Both her pearls of wisdom are so far doing the trick. I feel much better that at least I am inspired to do what is in my control.
How about you ? When was the last you went for a health check? Especially if you are above 30 and even more important if you are above 40. Let us at least offer our bodies same respect that we are offering to our cars and other gadgets. The intent of this writing is not to scare you; but to invite you to reflect on "do you know your inside story?" and "are you doing your best to stay healthy?".
