This holiday season, how much time will you spend trying to find the perfect gift for someone? No matter what gift you find – whether it’s big or small, handmade or store bought – remember that the true power of your gift has more to do with the energy and intention behind it than the actual gift.
Have you ever thought about searching for a perfect gift for yourself? If so, would you look for something that could help you become happier as well as helping the people you love become happier? Is there actually something that could do that?
Absolutely! The gift I have in mind has the potential to positively affect your life along with the lives of so many others, including family members, co-workers, neighbors, and everyone you meet in your travels throughout life. If you’ve been reading my articles or are one of my patients, you may already know what I’m talking about. Yes, I’m talking about the gift of health – a gift that everyone should give to themselves and cherish!
Few people realize just how important their health is – at least not until they’re in danger of losing it. I’m going to tell you about someone I knew a long time ago that could have avoided tragedy if he had done something to improve his health sooner.
I became friends with a fellow that came from a very poor beginning who worked as a machine operator at a factory. After learning how to repair the machines, he worked extra hours, saved money, and bought the old machines when they were replaced. Setting up the machines in his garage, he began working on them in the evening and on weekends, making and selling parts for them. There was such a large market for these parts that it didn’t impact his employer. With his ethics aligned to help him prosper, he built a small factory of his own which expanded to a large facility. This is how he became a multi-millionaire.
Although this man was a terrific boss and a wonderful person, he had many habits that were self-defeating. I watched his health deteriorate while he smoked, ate poorly, and worked at a feverish pace. Despite warnings that he was headed for a heart attack if he didn’t take better care of himself, he didn’t make any changes.
After suffering his first heart attack, he continued to ignore his poor health. Although he was lucky that this heart attack wasn’t fatal, since approximately 50% of all first heart attacks are fatal, it took two other heart attacks for him to begin listening to me and start to change some of his habits.
Unfortunately, it didn’t take long for him to return to his unhealthy habits before having a fourth heart attack. After this one, he could no longer do the things he loved, including traveling to his beautiful vacation home. Not long afterwards, he passed away much too young.
I hope this man’s story will help give you more incentive to do whatever is necessary for you to maintain or improve your health. But before thinking it’s going to be easy, do you remember what I said about the true power of a gift? It will take time, energy, intention, and perseverance to develop healthier habits, but the reward is your health!
When first starting out on your healthy mission, it’s helpful to prioritize the steps involved. From my experience, I know that neurologic control is the highest priority. Neurologic control is another way of saying that your head needs to be connected to your body for proper functioning. If there’s interference in the nerve pathways or a lack of connection between your brain, nervous system, organs, and other parts of your body, nothing in your body will work properly.
Although the necessity of an optimally functioning nervous system to maintain health had been theorized for years, the art, science, and philosophy of Chiropractic didn’t formally begin until 1895. Throughout the years, chiropractic care has continued to help people stay healthy and in good repair without the use of drugs or surgery despite many challenging problems.
Another way of helping the body repair and rebuild itself is by eating whole, natural, unaltered foods on a daily basis. A Paleolithic Diet consisting primarily of the same foods our ancestors ate works well for the majority of people since food requirements have remained the same for approximately 40,000 years.
To experience optimal health, we should also include supplements derived from whole, organic foods. These can also help to keep our hormones balanced. Since most of the food available today, even organic, doesn’t contain the nutritional content it once did due to chemical based farming methods that have damaged the land, whole food supplements are used to fill in missing nutrients.
Another component to good health is detoxification. I like to compare detoxification to taking out the garbage because otherwise this garbage would make your house smell awful. Your body also needs ways to remove garbage. Drinking a proper amount of clean unaltered water, eating food like cilantro to clean out heavy metals, getting fresh air, and undertaking a proper cleansing program are a few ways to help your body detoxify. There are many more ways to detoxify but remember to enlist the guidance of a qualified healthcare professional before undertaking a detoxification program because it can be dangerous if done improperly.
Exercise is also vitally important. As a gift to patients as well as those interested in improving their health, we offer several free classes that teach how to exercise correctly. Starting with basic stretching in “Essential Daily Exercises,” to our newest offering, “The 5 Minute Free Weight Work Out,” you’re invited to join us! Just be sure to register.
The gift of health is a gift to yourself as well as a gift to others. As you go about your shopping, decorating, and celebrating this holiday season, remember the Reason for the Season and have a most healthy and happy holiday!
Dr. William H. Karl, D.C. is a Brimhall Certified Wellness Doctor with over 30 years experience helping people experience optimal health! Join him, along with Nutrition Expert & Chiropractor, Dr. Jacob H. Karl, D.C., Thurs., Dec. 12, 7pm for a free workshop, “Wheat Woes and Your Waistline.” Limited seating, registration required. Call 734-425-8220 or e-mail: karlwellnesscenter@gmail.com. Visit www.karlwellnesscenter.com
