I readily admit that I’m the last person to talk about Health. I haven’t had a regular GP for decades. The last time I had any extended healthcare was that time I fell off my bicycle and broke my arm 20+ years ago. I’m a cigarette smoker with unhealthy eating habits whose sleep schedule is a roller coaster.
I fully acknowledge that attending to one’s physical and mental health SHOULD be a priority in every adult’s life. So why is my opening statement true?
Call it arrested development or burying my head in the sand, but I still subscribe to my adolescent belief in my own indestructability. I rarely get sick… not much more than the common cold for most of my adult life.
I’ll be 65 years old this year, so the topic of health has moved up in my awareness. This is the year that I finally establish an ongoing relationship with a General Practitioner. At a minimum, I’d like to establish a baseline for my physical health with a thorough physical examination and a full panel of blood work so I know what I’ve got to work with.
Although I’ll probably never sign up for a gym membership (did that once… paid for a year and went to the gym twice!), I do intend to get into the habit of taking long walks to keep my metabolism moving.
I’ll probably never quit smoking either, but I have been successful in reducing my cigarette consumption substantially in the past year. That feels good.
Perhaps that’s the biggest incentive/motivator for paying more attention to my health. There’s a certain satisfaction in acting out adult behaviours and attending to one’s well-being. Here’s to 2022 being my personal pivot toward self-care.