I read an article this morning about a long-time hospice nurse that provided her insights into what is said by people right before they die. The nurse stated that the most common lament she has heard from these dying people is “I wish I would have appreciated my health”.
The term “appreciate my health” is not heard often by any of us but I will place this concept into the bucket of what I will term “taking for granted”. There are MANY things we all take for granted including such things as:
- Having parents/siblings that are still alive and we can communicate with daily
- The freedoms we are accustomed to by living in our great country.
- Having easy access to food, clothing and the other staples of life
This list can go on and on about the things in life that we sort of “under-appreciate”.
Turning to our own health: Every day that we can wake up, feel well and not need to deal with doctors/hospitals/the healthcare system is an amazing blessing. But, do we appreciate this? Human nature is such that we only tend to appreciate things to a great extent when they are taken away from us. In the case of our health, most of us will take our good health times for granted and not focus on maintaining this status. It is only when things go south medically that we will then take the steps needed to obtain the good health status.
Please take the time to “appreciate” your health and keep working hard on ensuring as best as possible that GOOD health is the norm. All the wealth/material possessions in the world mean nothing if we do not have good health to enjoy them.
To life!
