“Be Thankful for what your body tells you.”
Every
day you get up and out of bed you take a little inventory. Whether you realize
it or not, every morning you do a little check-list of your body…..legs (no
cramping or wobbling), back (no pinches or strains), shoulders (no pain or
soreness), neck (no tweaks or twinges), mouth (I need to brush my teeth)….all
of this is a normal, natural process that really takes place between your bed
and the bathroom.
What
about the more subtle things with your body?
What
if you wake up and your vision is a little more blurry than normal? Would you
toss that up to an extra ‘sleepy ball’ in the eye or something more serious?
Your vision is a key indicator of a stroke.
What
if you are a little short of breath on the way to the bathroom? Could that be
from the weather or a larger concern? Shortness of breath is a symptom of many
serious conditions.
The
point is you know your body. What a good day feels like, what a bad day feels
like and just about every other day that you have had some experience with. But,
if you wake up tomorrow and it feels different, there is a reason for that, and
you may not have long to figure it out. The finer point is, don’t ignore it, do
something about it.
For
example, 40 years old Nigerian citizen had a Sudden Cardiac Arrest. He happened
to be in the right place at the right time so I thankfully fell in to the 5-8%
who survives an Out-of-Hospital SCA. But he reported, had I listened to my body
and what it was telling me, it never would have happened. Many months before my
event I was feeling more sluggish in my work-outs, sweating more and taking
longer to recover. As a fairly fit 40 year old, you tend to think you are
closer to 30 than 50, so it was difficult for me to hear what my body was
obviously telling me. Had I listened, there were definitely signs of something
going wrong. Work-outs continued to get slower, recovery time got longer, but I
still could not fathom that I could be on the brink of disaster. I must just be
getting older and this is what it feels like. Until finally one day, I went
down in full SCA-Heart in v-fib, statistically very little chance to survive. I
got very lucky.
My
favourite cliché now is, “Hind sight is 20-20”. The thing that was so hard to
see in front of me was crystal clear looking back. The signs were obvious and I
was not seeing it because I was ignoring what my body was telling me.
Your
body could be telling you the same thing right now. Take inventory and take
action. You know what is normal and what is not. You have been living with your
body a long time now. All the kinks are worked out and you have got a good
routine together. If there is something wrong, it will tell you, you have to
listen.
When
it comes to safety of your body, you are the CEO. No one else will look out for
your body better than you. No one else can diagnose an issue quicker or more
effectively than you. No one else will bring the proper actions or precautions
to bear. Be Thankful for what your body reports to you, now, take action.
