Today's Thought

Today, while I was walking with Abby on the back 40, I thought about health care. As you can imagine this had to be a pretty big complicated thought. As usual, I had many more questions than answers.

And why even think about health care? Well, if you get any news from the USA, you can't help but think about it. The good old Tea Party that wants to let uninsured people die for instance.

But speaking of Canada, what's going on such that universal health care should be in danger? Well, costs for one thing. It used to be that people became doctors because they wanted to help other people - they really cared and they did their best. Today, too many people study medicine because it's a ticket to becoming a millionaire. When did we decide that doctors had to be rich? And then there are all those expensive drugs and tests - and have they really improved the quality of life?

Last - and I think this is really important - too many people have abdicated responsibility for their own health. Diabetes Type 2? It's an epidemic! Why? People are eating the wrong things, too many of those things and then expecting the medical system to fix them. Why do we spend so much money looking for cures when prevention is a tiny baby step away?

Prevention is key and everyone holds that key in his or her hands. Think about smallpox and the lives it used to claim. No one looked for a cure. We found something to prevent it - and that is true with so many once-fatal diseases from measles to whooping cough.

Today prevention is even easier. We don't need a shot or boosters. We simply need to live a healthy lifestyle. It really is that easy. I don't understand why people choose illness over vibrant good health - but they do every single day. And when they choose illness, they also choose misery. You can't be happy when you hurt. So that's the question for me - why do people choose to be ill? And I want the real answer - not the excuses (I'm too busy, it's too expensive, lack of education, corporate greed.)

I'd love to know.