Mindy’s Monday Motivation – Blog Post #9 – Don’t end up trading your wealth for your health

Mindy’s Monday Motivation – Blog Post #9 – Don’t end up trading your wealth for your health

?About two years ago, I worked for an India-based company. Our headquarter was on the 6th and 7th floor of a tall office building. There were four elevators, but they were very slow. In addition, there were many people working in that office building resulting in a long wait time for an elevator to be available. Unless it was during odd hours, the elevator was always packed tight. Everyone was very courteous, but during the summer months, the heat can be a bit hard to take in a slow elevator going up six or seven floors with stops along the way. After a few rides, I decided to take the stairs whenever I could. On one of my trips back to HQ, I found various tips and suggestions for a healthier lifestyle as well as other encouragements painted on the steps. I was stuck by two sentences: In youth, people trade their health for wealth. Later, they trade their wealth for their health. Okay, they may not have written exactly, but the meaning is there.

They were simple sayings, but they struck true to me. As I am getting older, these simple phrases are even more profound. We do tend to forgo sleep, healthy food, preventive practices when we are younger. I remember studying until early in the morning, sometimes even all the way through and head to my college exams with no sleep. I didn’t eat very healthy food during my college years, either. Most of the food I had was instant meals like ramen noodles and fast food. I rarely went to the doctor… well, I still do that now, but that has its own reasons. I’ll probably tell you about it another day. I do go for my annual wellness exam and six-month teeth cleaning these days to keep up with my preventive care.

In any case, I think you get what I am trying to get at. When we were young, we feel invincible. We could do anything, so working 16-18 hours, not a problem. When I was in college, I had four part-time jobs, carrying 16 credit units per quarter. I think about it now, I don’t know how I did it. I had so much energy. I never took time for exercise. Blah! I was always running around or biking here and there trying to get to my various odd jobs on time. Who had time for exercise? My husband, then boyfriend, took me for a hike when we first started dating. I didn’t understand it. I was thinking why people would spend their 2-3 hours walking around a mountain when there were so many other things to do. Now, of course, it’s quite the opposite. I love hiking and can’t wait for this summer to be over so I can do some hiking again. The Phoenix weather is too humid these days, but even when it’s just the dry heat, I wouldn’t hike in the summer. Even when you are out and about at 5 AM in the morning, the heat catches up to you fast. By 7AM, you are looking at 90 degrees heat already. I am totally digressing. Back to my point, now I try to make time to exercise. I can’t eat whatever I want anymore. I can’t stay up late in the night anymore. I need my seven or eight hours of sleep. Sometimes, even when I want to sleep, I can’t because of the occasional insomnia. I used to eat in hope that I could gain weight to keep my pants from dropping. Now, I am trying to reduce my waistline in hope to fit into my pants, again. Ironic, isn’t it?

I hope that by writing this post, you can recognize the truth behind these phrases and make plan for a healthier lifestyle. I know we all have different lives. Some of you might have older parents to care for. Some might already have health issues. Some might have young children in the family. It’s certainly hard to get a good night sleep when you are parents of young children. I experienced through that with my two kids. My husband said he has yet to have a good night sleep since we had our first child. However difficult it can be, please take care of your health. You do not want to be trading the wealth you have accumulated from your younger years, just to buy more time in your older years. It’s not too late. You can start today with just 15-20 mins of exercise every day. Maybe do yoga. Maybe some weightlifting. Just some simple things. Drink a little less soda, even diet soda. Try to sleep on a more regular schedule. If those sentences didn’t resonate with you, then perhaps my next blog post would: you need to take care of yourself before you can take care of others. So, take the time to invest in yourself and I’ll follow up this post next week with one about self-care.

Have a great week everyone!! Until next Monday!

Mindy =D