Pass Through Normal

No one can keep misfortune from walking through their front door.  No one can make every day exactly the way they want.  No one can live happily ever after.

Everyone can embrace the moments they have.  Everyone can make good decisions that make them stronger.  Everyone can move forward and learn and grow to be the best version of themselves.

My favorite explanation of why people should consider being very healthy and strong comes from the founder of CrossFit.  He explains that if you are extremely healthy, your numbers at the doctor's office are above average, then in order to become unhealthy you have to pass through normal.  I love this image.  It explains why I might work harder at my health than others.  I am creating somewhat of a savings account to draw on if something unexpected happens to me.

I've experienced this phenomenon and I've watched it happen to others. 

A friend had two surgeries within 3 months.  I know she had a difficult time for a little while, but when I saw her, she was working on gaining her strength and mobility back.  All I saw when I saw her was how amazing she was.  You wouldn't have known by looking at her that she had just had two surgeries.

Another friend had to take on cancer treatment.  Because of his heightened health, he was able to take the treatment easier than others.  It was not easy, it was still cancer, it was still cancer treatment, but he had an advantage.

I'm in awe of how quickly I am able to recover from back surgery.  I have to remind myself that I spent over 3 weeks lying in a recliner.  When I feel stiff or weak, I remind myself where I was.  I remind myself I didn't move, then I moved slowly and carefully.  I'm thankful I was strong before this happened.  It makes it easier and faster to gain that strength back.

The first night after surgery, I had to get out of bed to use the restroom.  I remember thinking about how difficult getting out of bed would be if I wasn't as healthy as I was.  I had to roll myself over and push myself up with my arm.  I knew I lost strength in my muscles during that "recliner sitting" time, but since I began that journey extra strong, I was still strong enough. 

Imagine you have set aside $20,000 for a simple vacation.  Things are going well at first, but eventually everything goes wrong.  The car breaks down.  The vacation house is being repaired so you have to stay in an expensive hotel.  You have to go to the emergency room for an injury and the roads are blocked so you have to stay longer than you expected.  Fortunately, with all those unexpected costs, you still make it home with plenty of money in your pocket.  You still have money for savings or the next vacation.  It may not be as much as you wanted, but you are in the black.

Inversely, setting aside $2,000 for the same vacation will send you home in debt with months of hard work and sacrifice trying to break even again. 

Your health can work this way.  You can essentially create a health savings account that you store, you don't have to keep it in a bank.  You can draw from this account any time some issue affects your health.  It can give you the needed funds to fight off anything from the flu to cancer.

Consider creating this account.  Consider making choices that put you in a place of health where the inevitable attacks at your health will only make you normal because you began on the super healthy side of normal.