There is an expression that says "health is wealth." As I advance into my 50s, I realize more and more the truth of this statement.
Good health really is like money in the bank. We make small investments into it in our younger years, and it pays for itself many times over as we age. The arbitrary age of retirement of 65 was put forward at a time when few people actually lived that long. With advancements in health sciences, there is no reason why any of us should have to consider that as the age when we have to stop doing the things that we love to do. In fact, if we do indeed retire from our full time jobs, we can actually begin to make the contributions to the world that we want to without the stress of "earning a living."
If we choose not to retire, we can continue working using the years of wisdom and experience we have accumulated. Thus we help not only ourselves, but our entire society. Everyone benefits from the positive health choices we make throughout our lives.
Fairly early in my life I was diagnosed with hypoglycemia, which means that my body metabolizes simple sugars too quickly. If I don't watch what I eat, I end up getting very hyper, followed by a crash in my blood-sugar levels and feeling tired and irritable. This has turned out to be a tremendous blessing to me. It made me conscious of what I was eating. I realized that when I ate good foods, took vitamins and minerals and got sufficient exercise, I felt wonderful. I was able to focus on my studies and interact positively with other people. Why on earth would I not do these things? I developed positive habits toward health that I brought into adulthood. Now in middle age, I find myself happy and full of energy. The investment that I made is paying off. I can look forward to many more years of doing my best to make our world better, and I am rewarded for it. As a parent, I see my own children making similar choices, and I rejoice.
What about those of us who have not made good choices with their health, however? Here I go to the Bible to point out that Jesus told a parable where vineyard workers who showed up late in the day were paid the same amount as those who had been working since morning. (Matthew 20: 1-16) So it is with our health. At any point we can make a change and our bodies will fully recover, just as though we had always been living healthy lifestyles. In fact, Dr. Michael Roizen of the world famous Cleveland Clinic tells us that every seven years our bodies completely renew. If we make mistakes with our health, we get a complete do-over.
It is up to us, we just have to decide in our minds that we want health, and we can achieve it. Maladies we have may not disappear, for example, I am still hypoglycemic but we can still live life to the fullest. None of us knows how long we have on this wonderful planet, but we can make the absolute best of each day by cherishing the gift of our bodies. Taking care of our health really is like money in the bank.
