Health and Wealth

Ever since we chanted “early to bed, early to rise, makes one healthy, wealthy and wise” as children, we have been lead to believe that there is a magic formula for health and wealth. The newspapers, television and airwaves are full of marketers touting the latest formulas for perfect health and schemes for making lots of money. Many such marketers have been genuinely helped by the product or scheme they are promoting. Others have no interest in whether their product is effective or not, as long as it sells.

We focus more an more in issues of health and wealth as we age. Our discussions revolve around the latest health challenges for ourselves and our loved ones, dietary plans, medications, supplements or other alternative treatments have we tried, what seems to work, what we can afford. Can we attain optimum health and financial security in these times of fiscal instability and the rising cost of medical care?

There is no magic formula that fits everybody.

Let’s take “early to bed, early to rise” for example. It is great for “lark” people like me, whose bio energetic rhythm works that way. But it can be destructive for “owl” people, those not fully awake until mid morning, whose energy peaks in the late evening. If we had the freedom to work flex-time, we could adapt our schedule to our body’s natural energy cycle. As it is, we seek other ways to honor our body’s natural rhythms. Our national addiction to coffee, sodas and snacks may well be a symptom of trying to force our individual bio rhythms into socially determined schedules. Fighting our natural energy cycles also contributes to obesity, although the chief cultural myth driving obesity is the myth of an ideal weight for everyone.

Respect for individual differences is equally important in wealth and money making. For folks like my parents, steady employment by the government, the military, or a large corporation where their future is taken care of in terms of pensions and health care is ideal. It is not in their the nature to take the risks involved in independent business. “Never buy what you can’t pay for” and “always put something aside for a rainy day” works for them. For people with a vivid imagination and a predisposition for taking risks, however, those rules can be stifling. They may have to borrow money for start-up capital, and be unable to put something aside for years at a time. They may thrive on the uncertainty, long hours and single-minded devotion of owning their own business.

The key to health and wealth is our attitude or belief system..
In her book, The Soul of Money, global activist and fundraiser Lynne Twist relates one story after the other of positive change in the stability and sustainability of individual, tribal and national economies as a result of attitude change and the awakening of new dreams.

There is a big difference between “making a good living” and “living good”. When I was “making a good living” and living in a toxic personal environment, one ruled by my client’s and my family’s needs, I worried a lot about money. I also suffered frequent headaches, backaches and sinus infections. Since I have been “living good”, consciously choosing what I take into my life physically, emotionally and spiritually I’ve been in excellent health and, with considerably less money, feel wealthier than ever.

We may be unable to do anything about fiscal instability and the rising cost of medical care. But we CAN do something about how it affects us.

A change in attitude can work wonders.