Warning Signs from your Body you Shouldn’t Ignore

I know it’s almost Christmas, but this whole 12-21-12 end of the world thing has me stirred up and I just had to share a few thoughts with you (just in case).

Which kind of person are you?

1. You live 100% in the NOW. Your motto is ‘Live like there’s no tomorrow!’
2. You are so busy planning for tomorrow that you never enjoy the current moment.

(Maybe you’re both. You might be the ‘busy planning for tomorrow’ kind of person Monday through Thursday and then on Friday – you throw it all out the window and ‘live like there is no tomorrow’)

Either way, here’s the problem with ‘tomorrow’:

There is no tomorrow. Tomorrow doesn’t exist. There is only today.

Okay – before I get too esoteric on you…here’s why I bring this up.

Most of us live with the idea that we’ll eat better - tomorrow. We’ll make up for those extra calories - tomorrow. We’ll start getting healthier - tomorrow.

“Tomorrow is a new day.” Right?

The problem is - tomorrow is NOT a new day. It’s not a clean slate.

Your body tomorrow is the body you created today and you are only as healthy as what you did yesterday.

I don’t say that to depress you as you go into the holidays. I share that with you because it’s the truth.

As long as we keep treating our health as something we’ll do ‘tomorrow’ – as if we get a clean slate tomorrow – we will only find ourselves deeper in the hole with each new day.

The top ‘killers’ for us today (cancer, heart disease, diabetes, obesity) are actually PREVENTABLE. They are preventable and yet – they are the top killers. Isn’t that crazy?

Why do we do this to ourselves?

• Why do we wait until we are ‘broken’ and then act?
• Why do we wait until the deadline to turn in our project?
• Why do we wait for a diagnosis before we start treatment?

They say it’s human nature. We will always do what takes the ‘least effort’.

But I think there’s a little more to it than that.

One of the reasons we don’t take early action is that we don’t really believe we have any reason to. We think we are doing just fine. 

•  We’re conditioned to ‘tough it out’ when we’re not feeling up to par.
• We don’t think we are ‘sick’ until we hit that point where we can’t function.

We don’t go to the doctor until something is broken. And, that’s what our medical system is designed to do – to address major concerns, not small signs.

So, most of us wait until we get a really serious sign before we seek treatment.

But here’s where I tend to be more ‘optimistic’ than most.

I think most of us would rather address a health problem the minute it’s on our radar. We don’t really want to be faced with a big glaring sign that says “NOW IS THE TIME”. A diagnosis. A hospital stay. A permanent loss of a body part.

Am I right? Wouldn’t you rather catch the early stages of a disease? 

And, if you knew it could be easily avoided, you would definitely try, right? 

But, we don’t know the signs or we dismiss them as unimportant instead of taking them seriously.

Sadly, some of us won’t have the luxury of getting any kind of warning before our own ‘end of the world’.

But, the majority of us get warnings every single day. Little ones. The small, nagging warning signs that are easy to dismiss as ‘normal’ or something that we should be able to ‘deal with’ on our own or that can be dealt with ‘tomorrow’.

What are those warning signs from your body that you shouldn’t ignore?

• Low energy
• Fatigue
• Aches & Pains
• Grumpiness
• Headache
• Depression
• Extra weight

These symptoms are signals from your body that something isn’t quite right. These are not ‘normal’ conditions in a healthy body. They are the early warning signs of imbalance and disease.

Yes, you can put off treatment until tomorrow. And, yes, you can live like there is no tomorrow – but chances are – there will be a tomorrow. What then? 

You can’t erase yesterday. You can only start from where you are right now. And, by waiting until tomorrow, you’re that much further behind.

But, what if you started today? And, by today – I don’t mean you suddenly start doing everything ‘right’. I mean today you take one small baby step in a positive direction.

Maybe you:

• Eat some fresh organic raw veggies
• Grab a handful of raw nuts
• Cook a meal at home
• Drink a tall glass of water
• Eat a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast

Just one simple healthy choice. Today. Then, when tomorrow shows up – you’re one step closer to your goal instead of further behind.

That’s something you can do today. Even during the holidays.

You can also start really paying attention to what your body is telling you. Those early warning signs of trouble.

And, instead of ‘punishing’ your body further by laying on the guilt or restricting calories or doing extra workouts…you could start making small changes that will heal your body.

What’s your body quietly (or not so quietly) telling you?

Listen to your body’s whispers – before a bigger health issue hits you over the head.

Don’t let anyone tell you that those early signs are not important. They are your clues and the sooner you act on them, the sooner your longer, healthy life begins.

Don’t put it off because you’ll get wrapped up in the holidays and before you know it, January will have come and gone. 

Please don’t leave your symptoms unaddressed. Let’s get rid of those right now. Because those are symptoms you don’t have to live with…today OR tomorrow. 

What small action will you take today? Share it with us in the comments below.