I belong to the international group called, EO, which conveniently stands for Entrepreneurs Organization. You may have heard of it in it's previous life as Y-EO, when we were all Young enough to carry that title. Fortunately for me, and many of my peers, they figured out that entrepreneurism is not something one out grows with age.
As a part of this cool, rather elite, group of entrepreneurs around the globe, I get invited to some great events, most live… some virtual.
Well, today I received an invite to a health summit of sort. "Okay. Cool… Health." I'm thinking when I open up the invite.
Here's what it says, verbatim:
Dr. Locke will outline ways to modify your lifestyle to decrease your risk of developing cardiovascular and other chronic diseases. She will also discuss the importance of scheduled diagnostic tests as a means to detect subtle health issues before they become severe health issues.
Well, gee… That all sounds nice, right?
I think it's wise to detect a disease early and I'm big on prevention. But what caught my attention was just how "disease centric" the entire thing is. It is precisely the way modern, western medicine has arisen and the way we've all been taught to think, in terms of managing or avoiding disease.
It's as if disease is a big steel pole and we're all on a rope spinning around it. It's only a matter of time before that rope gets short and we go "bonk."
This is precisely the focus of Chapter One in Strength for Life, the dangerous dance with health, which most people define precisely the way Webster's does, "the absence of disease."
As a result we have a life centered around and driven by illness vs. health and as a result health becomes–literally–the absence of illness rather than the presence of vibrancy, of life, of energy, of joy.
And don't think this is simple semantics–it's a lot more than that. I'm talking to you about the way we really work, the stuff that is really driving you towards or away from… you can not be compelled towards a vision of health when it's defined in your psyche as "not being sick."
That's a "running from" not a "running towards" goal.
I encourage you, as I do everyone I meet, to reassess what health means to you. Define what it feels like, looks like and how amazing you want to live. Be intentional about it. And
The vision and word I point to is, "Strength."Not simply a physical capacity…
Strength is an abundance of physical, mental, emotional and spiritual energy–the capacity to make a contribution in this life and world. It's inclusive of health and so much more…
Here's to your Life @ Full Strength!
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It’s amazing how disease centric the world has become.
Health professionals spending their time striving for early detection instead of prevention.
I agree with you; we need to take control of our wellness by striving towards a place of vibrant health and happiness.