Things seem to continuously speed up. We continue to pack more and more into each day and all the while there seems to be fewer hours in each day. Our priorities continue to change in order to keep that schedule, get that work done, rush around with the kids, more, more, more but at what cost? Where are our priorities shifting? What in our lives is suffering?
All too often it is our health that suffers because we start to neglect integral parts of a healthy lifestyle. Didn’t make it to the gym because I ran out of time. Forgot to do my stretches this morning because I was running late. Ate lunch at MacDonald’s because I was in a hurry. Haven’t slept too well because there’s too much on my mind and I just don’t have time. We can all get caught up in the race of life and neglect these things but at what cost?
Our health is what allows us to enjoy life and without good health we have very little. However we often let it fall by the wayside in place of saving some time or to make time for other things in life. It is important that we shift our priorities to include healthy lifestyle choices and create time to care for ourselves. Health cannot be thought of as a sprint, it is a marathon. We must be in it for the long haul and we must be dedicated to making the time for becoming and remaining healthy.
Even within my own practice I hear patients ask all the time, ‘Why is my back so sore? I don’t have time for this.’ They have tried to cover up the symptoms with painkillers and suppress the body’s warning signals with muscle relaxants. When these fail, they try Chiropractic care and as soon as they feel better they stop treatment saying: ‘I don’t have time,’ or ‘I’m too busy.’ Instead of finishing out the treatment plan and making an actual physical correction of the problem they settle for symptomatic relief and run directly back into the lifestyle that caused the problems in the first place. They are often the same patients that claim Chiropractic couldn’t help their problem.
The fact is that Chiropractic care was never designed to be a quick fix for back pain. It was designed to correct and maintain motion and alignment in the joints of the spine to alleviate pressure on spinal nerves. This in turn allows the nervous system to function optimally and promote overall health and wellness. When our lives are full of stress and stressful situations a commitment to your health cannot last only a few minutes. It must be a daily commitment for the rest of your life. Each day must include a balanced diet, some form of exercise, stretching, and proper rest. Regular chiropractic adjustments must be included to maintain spinal and nervous system integrity. The brain must communicate freely with the rest of the system via the nervous system.
It is true that time seems to fly on by continually quicker and quicker. But if you continue to skip out on the things that preserve health your life will be getting shorter and shorter. It is imperative to maintain a commitment to health for the long haul. A band-aid may cover up any injury, but true healing takes time. It is up to us to make the time for healing and health.
