You Only Have One Body

Imagine you are sixteen years old and your parents give you your first car.

They also give you simple instructions:

There is one small hitch. You only get one car; you can never get another. Never. No trade-ins, no trade-ups. Nothing.

Ask yourself how would you maintain that car? My guess is you would be meticulous. Frequent oil changes, proper fuel, regular tune-ups, etc.

Now imagine if your parents also told you that none of the replacement parts for this car would ever work as well as the original parts. Not only that, the replacement parts would be expensive to install and cause you to have decreased use of your car for the rest of the car's useful life? In other words, the car would continue to run but, not at the same speed and with the efficiency you were used to.

Wow, would we ever put a lot of time and effort into maintenance if that were the case.

After reading the above example, ask yourself another question. Why is the human body different?

Why do we act as if we don't care about the one body we were given?

Same deal. You only get one body. No returns or trade-ins.

Sure, we can replace parts but boy it's a lot of work and it hurts. Besides, the stuff they put in never works as well as the original "factory" parts. The replacement knee or hip doesn't give you the same feel and performance as the original part.

Think about it. One body. You determine the mileage. You set the maintenance plan.

No refunds, no warranties, no do-overs.

Your Health Will Cost Time and Money

No matter what happens, you are going to spend time and money on your health.

This process can be a proactive one or a reactive one. Money spent on your health can take the form of a personal trainer, massage therapist, nutritionist, health coach and a gym membership -- or -- it can be money spent on cardiologists, anesthesiologists, plastic surgeons, or "assisted living".

Either way, you will spend money.

Same goes for time. You can go to the gym or to the doctor's office. It's up to you. Either way, you will spend time.

Some people say things like "I hate to work out." Try sitting in the emergency room for a few hours and then get back to me. Working out may not seem so bad.

Much like a car, a little preventative maintenance can go a long way. However, in so many ways the body is better than a car. With some good hard work you can turn back the odometer on the body.

A study done by McMaster University showed that muscle tissue of older subjects actually changed at the cellular level and looked more like the younger control subjects after strength training.

Do me a favor, spend some time on preventative maintenance. It beats the heck out of the alternative.

Just remember, you will spend both time and money.

- Excerpt of article by Michael Boyle

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