Do You want a Healer or a Dealer?
Health care is such a burning topic right now, and with all the press and dinner conversations going on about it, what is missing from the dialogue is health. If you’ve been following my blog for any time at all, you have heard me talk about Health Care & Sick Care. What we have in America is Sick Care, in fact you can see it all around you…we have more medicine, more surgery, more hospitals and we are sicker than ever before! Our current system does not address health, it focus on ameliorating symptoms so we can continue our hectic lifestyles uninterrupted….then we are surprised when our health fails! Health is proactive, I believe health to be the byproduct of making positive lifestyle decisions repeatedly over time.
Health is something you create, it is not early detection, preventative medicine, or screenings. True health care adds value to your life. Remember, when you give Sick Care to a community and call it Health Care, you end up with a sick society and a health care crisis. This brings me to Healers & Dealers (thanks to Dr. J for the title).
Healers:
- Know that the body is able to heal itself, and encourage the process
- Have a purpose and mission to educate and empower humanity so people can choose health
- Are concerned with how your body is functioning, and create care plans to optimize your health potential
- Inspire people to see what is possible, and offer hope, compassion, and an environment for people to succeed
- Know that everything the body does (even feeling pain), it does for an intelligent reason (in order to survive in it’s current environment).
- Champion themselves as having or being the “cure” to your symptoms.
- Wait until you have a problem that needs “fixing” through chemicals (medication) or removal or body parts (surgery)
- Are concerned with how your body is feeling, and offer solutions to try to get rid of your current pain and symptoms. For example: “Try this (pills) for a couple weeks, if they don’t work or you get a bad reaction, come back and we’ll try something different.”
- Like to get you hooked on their chemical so you become a lifetime consumer of one or more of their products
- Believe that the body operates like a machine, and that it makes bad decisions when things go wrong. Malfunctioning parts can be removed at little consequence.
What kind of doctor do you want? One will foster health creation and show you the narrow path that involves personal responsibility and change. The other will take away vital body parts and put you into a chemically induced existence so you don’t have to deal with the your life/pain/disease. One way empowers, the other is an escape. Again, what kind of doctor do you want?
I know what kind of doctor I choose to be.
About Cole Bradburn
I'm a writer and doctor in lifelong pursuit of health, happiness, and adventure. I currently live in Raleigh, NC with the love of my life and our amazing boys.
Love this, Cole. I was curious: What are your thoughts on yoga? Not necessarily in the spiritual sense, but from a perspective of health and wellness.
Hey Todd. From a strictly wellness perspective, yoga is great. People are increasingly immobile throughout the day – and then the health conscious ones hit the gym. Problem is, staying limber and flexible adds much more to your overall feelings of health than being strong and inflexible.
Yoga is one of the best ways to remain flexible and it strengthens the core while you are doing it, improving overall neuromuscular balance.
I do stay far away from the spiritual aspects that many integrate with yoga, and treat it as purely a physical tool and relaxation method.
Totally get what you mean. I love how much more limber and flexible I’ve become through the practice. As far as the spiritual aspect, I’m right with you. I try to take advantage of the time for calm and quiet and use it as a time to pray, so I guess you could say I manipulate the spiritual aspect and utilize it for listening to God. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!