Have you ever bought a Ferrari?

Have you ever bought a Ferrari?

Well, maybe not a Ferrari, but a great car, or the latest phone, or an expensive watch. Or, for that matter, anything that costs a bit of money? What do we do once we invest in expensive gadget/gizmos? We ensure good maintenance. In fact, we go to great lengths to ensure GREAT maintenance. We buy the best possible insurance policy, upgrade, service, fuel up, buy protective gear, shine, polish and basically spend a whole lot more money, time and energy on protecting our worldly investment. We are talking about a piece of metal here. A car that can be repaired, even replaced if need be.

Lets take the human body. The phenomenal human body. How much do you think it should cost? Remember we have only one body. It serves us all our lives. We need it to work for us 24/7 through all our impossible times, highs and lows. We have no spare parts and no, it cannot be replaced. How much do you think we should price it at? Priceless don’t you think?

And yet………..we place it under an inordinate amount of pressure and then fail to nourish it properly. We starve it. Alternately we stuff it with appalling food choices and expect it to behave itself. We get upset when it doesn’t. We are annoyed that it has “gained weight” or “fallen sick”. We stress it further to lose weight rapidly and unhealthily. The abuse is relentless.

Sure, we buy Life insurance and Health Insurance. That however is not the same as a “maintenance strategy” now is it? Buying life Insurance does not ensure a better QUALITY of life.

What is it that drives us to be quite so careless about our own bodies and yet pay so much attention to inanimate, material things? Is it the sense of infallibility? The conviction that somehow, we will be the ones to slip through the cracks and escape the implications of a reckless lifestyle?

We believe the rules of life do not apply to us. Perhaps justifiably. We do see some heedless humans cheerfully leading long or disease-free lives. On the other hand, we also see apparently healthy individuals sometimes dying or falling ill unexpectedly and shockingly. This is what is pointed out to me only too often when I advise people to follow a healthier lifestyle. “But what’s the point?” they ask, “look at how Mr. so-and-so dropped dead. He was fit, exercised regularly, eat healthy and yet he dropped dead”

I never said fitness was a guarantee against death! Only that it is a guarantee for a better QUALITY OF LIFE while you live. I for one, would much rather lead a full and productive life however short, than a long arduous one that is spent mostly in bed or a wheel chair in pain or depressed, suffering ailments that could have been prevented.

Have you ever bought an AMC (Annual Maintenance Contract) for anything from a water heater to a washing machine? Most of us do, for almost every piece of equipment we own. I even know someone who has an AMC for his treadmill, which by the way, he never uses!

I believe we need a DMC (Daily maintenance Contract) for the human body. If our bodies came with an instruction manual, it would probably say the following:

– Eat clean (most of the time. Occasional indulgences are allowed).

– Sleep at least 6-8 hours a day

– Exercise regularly.

– Drink enough water

– Manage stress appropriately.

– Stay busy and productive!

However, we do not come with an instruction manual now do we, so we do not bother with a DMC. Occasionally we realize the jeans do not fit or the triglycerides are sky-high and panic. Then come the desperate measures to right the wrong. Usually resulting in running for the nearest “quick-fix” remedy available. Drugs, massages, wraps, fasting, starving, drinking nasty concoctions that would probably make a skunk throw up, anything for instant results.

The panic however is short-lived. We get used to the weight gain or the high blood sugars/triglycerides. We tell ourselves it is part of the aging process. That we need to go with the flow, relax and take life as it comes. After all, most people around us suffer the same maladies don’t they? Therefore, it is absolutely natural. This is how we justify ill-health or a poor quality of life.

What if we pay as much attention to our own bodies as we do to our various material assets?

What if we begin to follow a DMC and consider our own wellbeing, both physical and emotional, as important and relevant to how we experience life?

What if we accept that WE are responsible for our own choices and subsequently the quality of our lives?

What if we treat our bodies as we would our Ferrari?