"health is earned"

I came across that statement recently and I love it, love it, love it. It barely requires elaboration, but what's the point of a blog if I can't blab to anyone or no one that cares.

There are a thousand things that can go wrong with our bodies that we have no control over. Besides the freak accidents that can end our lives abruptly, spontaneous human combustion for example, our bodies can and often times do turn on us. And there's nothing we can do about it.

Why don't we take responsibility and control what we can?? Why do we smoke, drink, eat crap, ignore exercise, fail to protect ourselves from the sun, when we ALL know how bad all those things are for us? I'm not going to list the harmful effects of all of the above because they're common knowledge (at least to anyone who can access the Internet to read this blog.) So how can we willingly expose ourselves to the dangers of those "luxuries" and then complain about shortness of breath, weight gain, lack of energy, heart burn, headaches, and wrinkles? And what's worse...we teach these habits to our kids.

I'm by no means perfect. (mmmm, cheeeeeseburger). However, I have learned that being in good health is a privilege and by no means a guarantee. Luck plays a huge roll...and the rest is up to us.