It is said that human beings spend the first half of their lives trading their health for wealth and the second half trading their wealth for health. Judging by my own life, it would certainly prove to be true. If I take this statement literally though, given the facts that the first half lasted 49 years and it took me a year to digest the lessons and set on a corrective course of action, it means that I have another 48 years ahead of me… That’s an exciting prospect! Especially now that I have regained a lot of my health, energy, peace and joie de vivre. Imagine! Another 17,521 days to look forward to and rebuild the wealth I had accumulated by trading my health for it, and which I spent the last two years liquidating (but not wasting), chasing back after my health. The whole thing would reek of stupidity if I hadn’t learned a lot in the process. Since I did learn a lot, though, it no longer qualifies as such but rather as a learning experience. Now that I have a lot of learning under my belt, I can start really living and help you get there.

What a treat the prospect for the future is! Broken down in years, it means that I will experience each season another 48 times (unless, of course I move to a summer-long place like Hawaii, which has never been a desire of mine, or our planet suddenly implodes but, somehow, I think it’s unlikely to happen during my time.) The smell of lilac sprinkled with dew in a crisp, clear and sunny spring morning, the swarms of pesky and hungry flies and yellow jackets in a late, hot, dusty summer afternoon, the turning of the leaves in a hazy and lazy autumn sky, the crackling of burning logs in a wood stove on a chilly and dark day of winter…

I’m going to let you in on a secret: that say is not completely accurate. Some people spend their entire life trading their health for wealth. I’m sure you know a few of them. Our nursing homes are full of them. Maybe you’re still one of them yourself… Others smarten up early in life, focus on their health first and enjoy the wealth that will undoubtedly result from it. I have yet to meet or hear of any human being, though, who did not, at some time or another, go through the first phase at all. Personally, I would consider myself to be among the second group, which is why I can now so easily and vividly visualize the glory of the forthcoming years (and thus not have any regrets about my past stupidity) without fear of the future. How can one have any when the past was already pretty darn good even if still grossly unsatisfying, the best has yet to come, there is so much more to experience, so much time left to do it and I now have a lot of the tools required to tackle the job at hand? One thing is sure: if you’re reading this, it’s because you are not content with what you have today and you are looking for answers. That, in and of itself, augurs very well for your future. So, since you’re on your way to better and bigger things, you have a reason to celebrate. Go right ahead and be proud of yourself for coming to grips with that first realization.

Now, let’s look at certain reasons why you may today find yourself in a place where you no longer want to be. Some of these reasons (which I will touch upon in the future, although I haven’t yet decided how frequently and in which order) may very well apply to you. Learn which ones and make the changes that apply. A word of caution: I can only tell you about what worked for me. It doesn’t mean that it will work for you although, based on numbers, there seems to be a certain consensus about where to start. The idea is not to shove any specific belief or method down your throat but simply to open your eyes to why certain things appeal to you more than others and figure out which ones may work for you.

“Science never solves a problem without creating ten more.” George Bernard Shaw.

I recently took an informal survey of the people I know: friends, acquaintances, clients. The information I gathered is quite sobering.

Among all the people I’ve met who are in my age bracket (50), the great majority (roughly 70%) is taking some prescription or another on a regular basis. Those are professional people, with a good head on their shoulders, intellectual education (I qualify it on purpose), a job, kids in college, a home they own, a rich social life and an active and apparently healthy lifestyle. Although some of them might be a tad paunchy or overweight, none is obese, and very few of them are addicted to any poison or particularly reckless. As a matter of fact, they drink only socially, walk or run on a regular basis, watch what they eat, drink water (some), etc. Yet, they admit to popping daily a pill or two for one type of chronic condition or another: thyroid, rheumatism, depression, diabetes, high blood pressure, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, high cholesterol, Crohn’s disease, IBS, constipation, migraine headaches, heartburn, acid reflux or whatever else. The list is almost endless. Some of those people had to undergo the surgical ablation of an organ and must now compensate for it with drugs. For others, the need for medication arises from a currently malfunctioning organ they still harbor. Regardless of the cause for it, those people know that, unless science makes tremendous progress very soon and manages to eradicate those conditions, they will keep on taking those same pills FOR THE REST OF THEIR LIVES! What I find more troublesome still is that, instead of feeling better, they admit to getting worse! The single pill they first were taking -and still do today- to treat some unresolved ailment triggered adverse effects for which they, now, take a second pill, and soon a third one, and so on. Many of them even pop pills preventively, before they ever get diagnosed with anything specific. Turn on the TV any day and you’ll see some celebrity talking about some magic potion or capsule they take so that they don’t come down with some uncertain illness in some even more uncertain future. (Caution: this prescription may cause constipation, ringing of the ears, stomach troubles, pain in the joints, blurred vision, sinus congestion, dry mouth, insomnia and palpitations. It should be avoided if you already suffer from heart disease, kidney disease, urinary incontinence, liver problems, depression or had your gallbladder or thyroid removed. Other than that, IT’S GOOD FOR YOU!)

In contrast, I recently had to have a check up required for my job as a medico/legal interpreter. You’ve had one; you know what’s involved: pee in a cup, give up several ounces of blood, breath hard, cough, bend forward and backward and walk on your toes, in short, get pocked, probed and punctured. Not the most pleasant experience but it had to be done… So, I subjected myself to it.

The doc checked my blood pressure (94/62) and did what she had to do. When she was done, she was amazed and actually called me “a breed in extinction”. Well, I couldn’t pass up this opportunity. I had to ask her: “Would you like to know how I pulled that off?” I would venture to say that, from the look on her face, she seemed to expect a tale of meditation, yoga, daily chanting, Tai Chi and vegan diet or something along those lines. (Nope. Not me. I’m such an Epicure, I’m not sure I want yet to give up good food, good wine and good life. More than willing to reconsider them as I go but not ready yet. And I still do have a couple of very bad habits to break. Working on them as we speak.) What the doc didn’t expect was for me to hand her a DrNatura brochure. She was perplexed, dubitative and incredulous. I went on with telling her all about the Colonix and Toxinout programs. I had followed the Colonix program over a year earlier and was in my sixth week of Toxinout. Fortunately, she was smart and open-minded (a rare quality for a doc, these days, although it is getting better…) She asked a bunch of questions. How did it work? How often did one have to do it? What were the side effects? For the following fifteen minutes, I educated her on colon cleansing and detoxification. About a half-an-hour later, as I was returning from some additional poking, probing and puncturing, I walked by her office and got a glance of her, sitting in front of the computer, reading the information on DrNatura’s site. Boy, did it feel good!

So, here we basically have two kinds of people: one, sold out on Western medicine as the panacea for all ills, without much understanding of whether and how it really works in the first place, and popping daily outrageously expensive pills that do not appear to bring permanent relief for anything. I would say that for many of those, the belief in medicine’s infallibility is based largely on the attraction perceived authority and power confer in their mind. Note that I did state “perceived” authority and power. I’ll tell what I mean some other day so hold that thought.

The other group, to which I gladly belong, isn’t unreasonably opposed to Western medicine, surgery and pharmacology, as concepts and necessities in occasional instances. What makes us different, though, is that we are not willing to forego control over the every day maintenance of our individual bodies and wellbeing and the freedom to choose how to attain those states of bliss. We’ve flirted long enough with misery to know first hand that it isn’t what it’s cracked up to be, we’ve done some research, experimented along the way and come to a place where we feel so blessed that we want to share it.

Strangely enough, those two kinds of people have often unfairly been portrayed as hostile and antagonistic toward each other, which is not necessarily true, does not need be and is completely counterproductive in the first place.

For obvious reasons, I won’t talk about the intolerant, fanatic die-hards in either camp, unwilling to see beyond the scope of their limited understanding and intent on converting everyone else to their limiting beliefs. This is not the purpose of this site. Those people try to exercise their control over us, which is exactly what we no longer want for ourselves. Besides, it takes way too much energy and time and, very often, the only result achieved is to get everyone pissed off. Talk about taking the joy out of life!

So, here is what I propose to do: rather than fuel an already… how shall I say… somewhat explosive situation, I am going to help you look at the beliefs held by both sides under the proper light with their pros and cons, guide you through the labyrinth of information and misinformation both have already published, help you decide where you want to be, health wise, next month, next year, in five years, in ten… and direct you to the existing tools which will help you make it happen. Why? Simply because knowledge is power. Power is action. Action is life. And life is… well, the only thing we really own right now. We can decide to enjoy it or we can decide to be miserable the whole time. I tried both. Misery takes a lot of work and energy and it’s a lot of weight to carry around day in and day out. What a drain!

Two little kids are in a hospital, lying on gurneys next to each other outside the operating room.
The first kid leans over and asks, "What are you in here for?" The second kid says, "I'm in here to
get my tonsils out and I’m a little nervous about it.”

The first kid says, "You've got nothing to worry about. I had that it done when I was four. They put you to sleep, and when you wake up they give you lots of Jell-O and ice cream. It's a breeze."

The second kid then asks: "What are you here for?" The first one says: "A circumcision."

The second kid exclaims: "Whoa, good luck buddy! I had that done when I was born. Couldn't walk for a whole year!"

Christine
CBrightlife@aol.com