Health—It’s [Mostly] Not Your Fault

So many of my greatest blessings aren’t my doing. I didn’t choose to be born into a good family or to have great kids. Those things were thrust on me, and I’m better for it. But the reverse is also true. Forces outside our control can be catalysts for tragedy, loss, and even a bad mood. As much as I’d love to claim I have a firm grip on life’s steering wheel, it’s often the case that I’m in the back seat, driven by things I can’t change.

In health, we’re dealt a hand with variables that are mostly beyond us: genetics, environment, economics… But “mostly” doesn’t mean entirely. For example, you may have heard that having two copies of the APOE-ε4 gene increases your risk of Alzheimer’s disease by 8 to 12 times. That’s true, but that risk factor assumes that you live an average American lifestyle. With simple changes, that risk can be significantly modified in your favor.

So how do you make the most of the hand you’ve been dealt? Start with the foundational things that we can impact: nutrition, movement, mindfulness, sleep, and community. A keen eye may notice those are the very things that give Functional 5 Health its name. You don’t have to tackle them all at once. In fact, it’s in your best interest to focus on one at a time. After all, these are broad, complex wellness categories. So choose one and make a goal.

Goals typically start with stopping, adding to, or modifying existing habits. For example, if nutrition is your focus, you might consider something like cutting out soda (assuming you drink a lot of it). The health implications of that one choice would be massive. So often, stopping a bad habit is even more impactful than starting a good one.

Just as important, though, don’t make your forward progress conditional on checking a box. If you can’t make it a day without soda, that’s okay. Find something you can change, and then find another. As you do, something interesting will happen: you’ll find that those things that were beyond your control gradually become within it. Put another way, even if you’ve had so much cola that you have a doctorate in Dr. Pepper, you can stop. Incremental change is the answer.

There’s an endless amount that could be written on this subject, but let me end where I started: so much of who we are is not our fault. But as best we can, let’s make good health be our fault.