Can you believe it?!
You’ve fulfilled a lifelong dream and are actually on the game show Family Feud! Best of all, your family is tied with the Joneses, and it’s your turn for a face-off.
It’s time to play Family Feud!
The fashionably dressed host Steve Harvey twinkles his mustache as he prepares to read the question.
“The top eight answers are on the board. Name the most important things in life.”
Without hesitating, you hit the buzzer as if it was a reflex… but your mind goes blank as you quickly search for any answer before the time runs out.
“Relationships! Your friends and family,” you blurt out.
Steve looks at you and smirks while motioning toward the board, “Survey says…”
DING!
You got the number two answer on the board! Great job.
You decide to play the round and hustle back to your spot, awaiting the chance to complete the board and take the lead. As you settle back in with your family and begin discussing potential answers…
… a loud, annoying buzzing sound overwhelms your senses, and you groggily open your eyes to realize it was all just a fantasy. Your dang alarm has cut short your dream, time to hang with Steve Harvey, and the chance to keep up with the Joneses.
Even worse, you never got to see what the number one answer was and you can’t catch stream the episode later. The good thing is we’re here to help you complete the round so it won’t continue to stress you out.
Of course, depending on who you talk to, there are many possible choices that could round out the answers. Everyone will have different ideas of what the most important things in life are.
One way of looking at important things in life is finding out what you cannot live without. When it comes down to it there is only one answer that directly affects all the others – health.
If you aren’t putting health on the very top of the heap, you are missing the big picture. A person’s physical and mental health provides the foundation for everything else in life. If you aren’t well in either area you will struggle with everything else.
How important is health?
Consider this — in 1948, countries around the world came together to found WHO (World Health Organization) to promote health, keep the world safe and serve the vulnerable – so everyone, everywhere can attain the highest level of health and well-being. That’s right, the world as a whole agreed on something. Absolutely amazing!
Then, in 1950, WHO established World Health Day, a day celebrated every year on April 7th — the anniversary of the founding day of the World Health Organization. The aim of World Health Day is to focus on and raise awareness around health issues that affect people all over the globe.
One of the biggest challenges to good health is stress. While stress is a completely normal response to life experiences and be beneficial at times, it often can build up and becomes overwhelming to the point where it wears a person down mentally and physically.
Signs of Stress
Stress can present emotionally, mentally, and physically. As it is World Health Day, let’s focus on the physical signs of learned or repeated stress we experience that are also directly related to the biggest world killers of physical health. The physical signs found to have some correlation with stress are:
➢ Heart disease
➢ Hypertension
➢ Chronic pain
➢ Decreased immune response
➢ Headaches
➢ Heartburn
➢ Insomnia
➢ Digestive issues
➢ Poor nutrition
The biggest world killers are noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). That is, illnesses that occur because we maintain unhealthy behaviors. NCDs are not spread through infections, like a cold or virus. They start with our bad habits and can be more likely to occur when a biological family member has had an NCD.
The biggest world killers are more commonly found in low-income countries and populations. These diseases include cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, and chronic lung disease. In the U.S., 30% of our population has been diagnosed with cardiovascular disease and 21% with cancer.
How many people do you know that have been diagnosed with one of these big world killers? Too many, I’m sure. And they may not even be in the low-income group.
The unhealthy behaviors that are directly associated with these world killers are also directly associated with the short-term energy-relieving behaviors Americans think will relieve stress but do not.
The more popular unhealthy behaviors include:
- Drinking alcohol (typically more than one standard-sized drink/day)
- Smoking nicotine and/or marijuana or using a CBD product
- Eating salty or sugary snacks or overindulging in any food group
- Not engaging in regular physical activity
- Zoning out to social media or television
How have you noticed you feel after you have done any of these short-term energy-relieving behaviors?
What thoughts did you notice about you and/or your situation?
Did the stress level actually change or was it just a momentary distraction?
In the 12-Step Program of Alcoholics Anonymous, the phrase used to describe that feeling after is “Now I’ve got 2 problems” (i.e., the original problem and now this “zoned out” feeling).
The Good News
World Health Day was established by the World Health Organization and is celebrating its 75th year. Research, education, and resources have helped to improve our physical health.
Here are a few statistics from the Center for Disease Control for the United States that were acquired in 2019.
- Over the past 3 decades, cancer diagnoses have continued to incrementally decrease due to preventative screening and a significant drop in nicotine use.
- Heart disease-related deaths have continued to decrease over the past decade yet decreased at a slower rate between 2012 to 2019. An increase in certain risk factors (hypertension, high cholesterol, smoking, diabetes, obesity, poorly balanced nutrition, physical inactivity, excessive alcohol use) is associated with that slower decrease.
- Heart disease diagnoses have declined slightly, from 6.2% to 5.5% during the past decade.
- Nicotine use by adults has significantly decreased.
Regrettably, teens’ nicotine use increased over the last decade, especially the use of vaping for those with lower education levels. Questions are being researched as to what correlations may be at play with the pandemic being first on most researchers’ minds.
Long-term energy-relieving behaviors are the way to lower your risk of being an NCD statistic. Simple daily life adjustments will help you live a longer, happier, healthier life.
- Balanced nutrition looks different for each of us. Generally, good nutrition includes lower carbs, higher lean proteins, and less saturated and trans fats, plus a variety of colorful vegetables.
- Moderation and balance are the secrets to longevity. Anytime we indulge we risk our physical and mental well-being. This makes sense regarding nutrition, socializing, working, exercising, and sleeping, as well as scrolling and zoning out with social media and electronic games.
- Request assistance from your physician to end your use of mood-altering substances, like alcohol, marijuana, nicotine, and sugar. Commercial and governmental insurance plans pay for many resources to help you.
World Health Day is an important event that includes a theme each year that is meant to draw attention to a current health issue in the world. The theme for 2023 is “Health For All.”
WHO dreams of and works toward the day all people have good health for a fulfilling life in a peaceful, prosperous, and sustainable world. Help that dream become a reality by ensuring physical and mental health remains the number one answer on the board for you and everyone else. Together, we can support each other and make the world a better place for all.
Oh, and if you want to make that other dream a reality, you can always audition to be on the show or play online.
What else should you know about World Health Day and taking care of your health?
Watch family and marriage therapist Susan Harrington, founder of Maison Vie, discuss World Health Day, why you should make your mental and physical health a priority, and tips to live a healthier, happier life. You can also contact Maison Vie to see how Susan can help guide you through counseling sessions.
