What Price do you Place on Your Health?
In the UK we are fortunate to have a free National Health Service (NHS), available to all. Whilst I believe in healthcare being a right, I do think that people have to take responsibility for the food they eat, the exercise they take, the amount of sleep they get and the way they manage stress. Osteopathy isn't generally available on the NHS. It's a bug bear of mine that some clients will often avoid having treatments that they have to pay for. It's common for people to spend more on their pets and cars than they do on their own health. Once, I was asked to invoice my client's daughter instead of her, so that a health insurance claim could be made. Although an uncomfortable conversation, I had no qualms saying no. What was particularly frustrating was that the client smoked over 20 cigarettes a day. Approximately £7.00 a day, 7 days a week is almost £50. This could easily afford 2-3 osteopathic treatments a month, which would a far wiser investment in their short-term and long-term health. Likewise a daily iced coffee adds up to over £80 a month.
Even more nonsensical is the fact that many clients will readily pay for manicures, highlights and Brazilian waxes, which whilst making them feel groomed and confident on the outside, are only primping dead tissue! What about taking care of the spine, nervous system, organs etc? I have even met young clients who are regularly having botox- willingly injecting a toxin into their body to prevent wrinkles at an age where this isn't even a concern!
According to one of my favourite teachers Dr John Demartini, the things that you value most are the things in your life that are most ordered, and where you spend most of your time and money and occupy most thoughts. How much are you spending on your outer beauty each month? Add up the cost of lotions and potions in the bathroom cabinet, beauty treatments and more? How much time do you spend looking after your health, compared with unnecessary procrastinating, or surfing the net? What health behaviours could you change that would have a marked effect on your wellbeing? I would love to hear from you, either on the comments below, or on twitter @avnitouch.