If the last two years is anything to go by there is definitely one message which resonates across the board with everyone. That message is health. No matter what anyone says human health has certainly come to the forefont of global focus. What is sad is that it took the fear of a pandemic to wake people up and make them realise that.
Humanity across the globe is in a very unhealthy state but moreover a large percentage of the unhealthy population is based on very poor lifestyle decisions which have a detrimental impact on ones health and of course the consequences that come with it. Usually an individual will only value their health when they no longer have it. It’s debilitating physical and emotional impact period can leave a person begging for their health back. If and when it does return they generally go back to their previous bad habits. No lessons learned just Russian roulette with their health future.
The pandemic though brought another angle to the forefont and that was the question of am I healthy? If I do catch this virus how will my body respond? It is a very vital question to ask. I come across so many people in life who tell me they are healthy but once we start to dig deep we find that in actuality they are not. I mainly work with athletes. Take a look at them in general and your perception is lean, fast, strong and resilient. I take a look at them and see vulnerabilities caused by additional stresses on a body which can suppress proper immune sytem function as well as trigger a whole other host of potential issues which are never seen on the surface. Yes, they can also be high risk candidates.
When the pandemic started and treatment protocols were not crystal clear my immediate advice was tone down the training volume and intensity, focus on good nutrition, plenty of good sleep and fortify your health because that was our only initial natural fighting mechanism. Many did the opposite with their backyard ultra’s and clocking up the biggest home training sessions I have ever seen in my life. There were many who then when contracted covid got hurt and knocked down way worse than they should have. When I saw what was happening I took a bit of an angry and somewhat arrogant stance commenting that many had just taken their health for granted and now they were paying the price for their poor decisions.
I owe you an apology. Its not your fault. You were never guided, never taught, and grew up in an environment in which you didn’t know any better. It should not take a pandemic and fear mongering to make us change our attitudes towards our own health. It should be ingrained from a young age. Nutrition, exercise and general health should be taught at schools, should be brought into our homes and should be all encompassing in a family environment. However its very rare to find.
I dont like who I became. The pandemic triggered a huge sense of anger and resentment inside of me with the world looking for quick fixes and solutions to solve a pandemic which had absolutely no mercy on the vulnerable.
Admittedly I was one of the fearful when covid hit. The media loves sensationalism its how they make their money and fear was at the top of the list.
Eventually when I caught my first covid infection I had to go through the motions of a symptomatic illness that millions of others went through before me not knowing which way it would go. In hindsight the infection that hit my wife and I was fairly mild compared to many and we were over it in around ten days and slowly back to routine.
I was told by someone that I was lucky. That flared up some more anger because for the past 30 years of my life I have placed a huge amount of effort and focus on preventative health, through studying and constantly practicing. every single day of my life. Luck has nothing to do with it I lashed back. However again I need to apologize. My own turning point was three decades ago when I too succumbed to illness and it was my wake up call and my calling in life. If this is what it took me to wake up then it isn’t any different for others.
There was a major war going on across the globe of health versus covid. Having experienced covid and having some like minded experts at my side I became a frontline soldier. I went straight into the health battle and never looked back. Even to the extent that when my wifes son caught delta a year after our first infection I intentionally exposed ourselves to him to prove that health is the trump card here. We went through the second covid infection but this time way milder than the previous one. To be honest only two days of sinus irritation and then bloods were run and were all good and so again back to routine.
I was told by someone that my “brilliant chess move” was like cleaning my teeth with a shotgun. My convictions are solid, I just told him that for him it was fear talking, but I had already experienced covid and so I had none.
More arrogance set in because we bounced covid twice with ease and heath became even more of a trump card.
BUT, in hindsight I openly admit this was not a very clever move. As an educator and mentor it was pretty damn stupid. I demonstrated something which could have led others to do the same thing with dire consequences. Very few people on this planet actually have a true snapshot of their health. Their definition of health is an snapshot of how they feel from day to day based on physical and emotional feeling and function. They might not actually know what it truly feels like to be energetic and truly healthy. Its a biased opinion based on their life experiences.
I have let you all down. I played the health card over and over again during a pandemic when you did not have the slightest understanding of how you could be directly impacted by it. But because you do not have that indepth knowledge and know how into measuring your own health you could easily be at risk. Not just pandemic risk but any potential health threats that come your way.
The last few weeks I decided to take a step back and went into deep thought as to how I can try to make this world a better place. I am tired of the ongoing battles and arguments ensuing the globe. I have my opinions but my job is to encourage motivate, and help others achieve a much higher level of health and longevity.
So for now the only way forward is to educate and motivate . To use all my experience and evidence based knowledge and the knowledge of others to give you the best possible opportunity at strengthening, improving and fortifying your health.
Its a new year, certainly a new era and all I can do is promise you to keep striving to help change lives for the better going forwards.
Yours in health always
M
