Can't wait...

Wow! The last stretch of this semester is just that, a stttrrrreeettcchhh! I've learned a lot and am excited for what's left, but I'm also more than ready to be done with school...again.

The medical field really is just one aspect or avenue when it comes to "health." When used properly, it has a lot to offer, but unfortunately, we've placed it at the forefront, or rather, as the foundation of attaining and maintaining health, which, I believe, is far beyond its "scope of practice."

Medicine, as it is currently practiced is deeply rooted in diagnosing and treating. There are branches of this field that focus on preventative health and health maintenance, but these branches are really just "new," young shoots that need a lot more attention to really shift the general population's paradigm/perspective from get hurt/sick go to the doc and get fixed.

I won't expound on this thought, but I think it is a lot like education: it is not mainly the school or teachers' responsibility to ensure that students learn. It is the student's choice to engage and the parents' responsibility to enforce active participation in education. School, especially high school, should not be a daycare that gives the teachers all the responsibilities of education and all the consequences when students are not "educated." It's sad how little responsibility the majority of students have and how little consequences they or the parents take upon themselves. Instead, government steps in, and "extends" itself further with more programs and legislation to cater to students' needs and "lack of resources." Wow....I didn't think I was going to go too far with that one. As I said, it's been a long last few weeks!

Well, last thoughts before I it the books: Health isn't the absence of disease and sickness. Feeling good and functioning well are two very different lifestyles. Our bodies are incredible with many, many intricate mechanisms to adapt and compensate.

It's your choice to ensure that the adaptations your body has to make are not compromising your current and, possibly more important, your future health. Factors such as: Reducing stress, food selection, exercise, adequate vitamins and nutrients, laughing (very good for you!), and surrounding yourself with loving, supportive, like-minded people who you can rely on and who rely upon you! I wish I could take people, just for a few hours, through the hospital floors and long term care facilities so that we could see how our decisions now have such an invaluable impact on our future -- for better or worse.

Just a little jabbott for today! Have a great week :)