“The best wealth is health,” said the Roman poet Virgil.

 Part 1

If you don’t have health, material wealth means little.

You have heard it often: Even with all the money in the world, if you don’t have health you have nothing. I believe this is true but it appears that many have forgotten or elected to ignore this fact. The reason we (the musketeers with heart) created this blog is to encourage, educate and inspire others to take back control of their health.

Look at all the chronic debilitating diseases and all the cancers affecting us today. This is not a normal part of ageing. It is the result of years of living an unhealthy lifestyle. We know that cardiovascular disease, diabetes, arthritis, weight problems and cancers do not develop overnight. These illnesses are the result of years of neglect that the body is unable to deal with.

Why is it that we invest so much time and effort into creating financial wealth but we don't invest the same amount of time and effort into ensuring that we are well from a health perspective?

In our fast-paced society we have instant access to information and we have come to expect that our problems will be solved almost immediately. We have come to expect the same in relation to our health.

If we develop a symptom, we take a pill. If an organ becomes diseased, we cut it out. We sometimes forget that all of our organs are vital so we need to keep them inside our bodies!

Symptoms are built-in warning systems. Allergic reactions are warning symptoms.

We need to pay attention to them when they first occur. A most common example is chest pain. This is a warning sign for heart disease. When it occurs we must look at our lifestyle because it is well known that cardiovascular disease occurs as a result of the way we eat, exercise and manage our stress.

It is also known that cardiovascular disease is not only treatable but reversible. But in order to do this we must be willing to significantly change our lifestyle. Sometimes people tell me it’s hard to do all the things I recommend. My response is it’s harder to deal with a heart attack or recover from open heart surgery! The choice is yours. You can choose to be healthy or figure out a way to get good health back once you’ve lost it, and I can guarantee you the latter is much more difficult.

Please remember it’s our right to live healthy and happy. It is not our destiny to grow old with sickness, chronic illness and cancer. When we live with healthy habits we grow old gracefully and fitly. Stay tuned for my next post where I will share 3 simple daily practices (anyone can do) that take 10mins and I guarantee will change your life.

Christina Stoevelaar 

mob. 0404945027

www.alignandthrivewellness.com