First of all, I can not take credit for this amazing article that I am about to post but I can thank the amazing words of a dear friend of mine Meghan, for writing this on her blog – www.thehealthycookie.com.
It is truly inspiring and so much in tune with my thoughts… enjoy!
Source – http://thehealthycookie.com/2007/04/14/a-cure-what-about-prevention/
With the start of Spring comes another round of charity events. There are so many of these fund-raising events, they are becoming ridiculous. The M&M meat shops BBQ to raise money for the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of Canada is my personal favourite. The website promoting the event reads as follows: “For a minimum donation of $2.50, hungry guests will receive a delicious hamburger or hot dog, drink, and a bag of chips. Every cent raised will be used to support medical research to find the cure for Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.”
This is really, the dumbest fundraiser I have ever come across. Selling cheap processed meat, aspartame loaded pop and saturated fat laden potato chips to raise money for a disease that is aggravated by these very things.
Walking for cures. Cures for cancer. Cures for MS. Cures for heart disease, lung disease, obesity, cystic fibrosis, Alzheimer’s… it goes on and on and on. Walks, runs, rides, picnics, shows, concerts… Argue with me all you want, but I can tell you that not a penny of my money will go into supporting a cure. I am happy to help when and where I can, the people suffering from a disease. I just can’t help support the labs. It is not that I don’t believe we need to find cures for all of these horrible, debilitating and often fatal diseases. I do. But I, personally, can not put money toward more drug research. Drugs that cause further illness. Drugs that are all too often recalled. (Incidentally, Zelnorm, one of the many many drugs I was prescribed last summer but never took, was recalled last week for causing heart attacks and other serious gastric ailments). There is not now, and will never be a magic pill that will cure all sufferers of a single disease. I do fully acknowledge and respect that research must continue on to find cures and that doctors do incredible things in helping patients manage symptoms and disease. But wouldn’t it also be helpful to find out how to avoid getting sick at all?
What we need is to raise awareness for prevention. It is actually long over due. There are too many sick people. Too many people who go about their day without knowing how their very lifestyle, their actions, their thoughts, their state of being, the sleep habits and their diet are all working against their own bodies. They are actively building disease that no amount of money, and no amount of research seems able to find a cure for.
We need to start raising money to fund prevention awareness programs and start taking our health into our own hands through prevention. There is no greater power than to have the power over your own health. This I know for sure. People say all the time “I know I should eat better” or “I know I should exercise more”. We shouldn’t be waiting until something goes wrong to make it right. Keep it right.
Prevention means taking an active role in our personal well being. Prevention is not about taking an Aspirin every morning, or making sure we get out supplements. Prevention is as much about what we do as what we don’t do. Prevention means eating well, resting, exercising, limiting toxin in take, taking measures to cleanse these toxins that accumulate in our bodies. Prevention is about laughing, smiling, having joy and love. Prevention is about staying active and busy and to make it a priority to take the time needed for ourselves. Prevention is about taking responsibility for our current state of health and future state of health. Living a healthy life is not a green light to a life free of disease. But it does guarantee that if you do fall ill, for whatever reason, your body and mind have the reserves of strength to heal and recover.
There is currently only one established organization in Canada that is raising money for prevention. That’s right. ONE. One organization of only a few people asking individuals to join up events in their community to help them raise money.