The Most Important Machine

We take care of our cars.  Regular maintenance and oil changes, proper fuel, etc.  When the parts wear out, we replace them with newer ones when possible.  Eventually the vehicle is no longer repairable.  We trade it in.

Why do we take better care of our cars than our bodies?!  Because it costs less to maintain them than it does for major repairs or to replace them?  Because we want to keep the resale value as high as possible?  Or perhaps we want them to be reliable and dependable for when we really need to get somewhere.

They are all valid reasons.  I ask, then, why so many of us do not take care of the MOST IMPORTANT MACHINE in our lives… our bodies?  Our parts are more costly to replace, and some parts simply can’t be replaced.  Once our bodies wear out, there isn’t a whole lot we can do to fix them.  We certainly can’t trade them in for a new model (although that does sound tempting!)

Our bodies are wearing out and breaking down at record levels.  According to Meridian Kidviews, Summer 2013:  “Type 2 diabetes was once called adult onset.  But as children have grown heavier, the disease has appeared at younger ages.”  From the same article, Dalia Hanna, M.D. is quoted “One in three kids diagnosed with diabetes has type 2 instead of type 1.”  Astounding because it is a lifestyle disease that can be prevented in most cases.

Our bodies are incredible machines that work so well even while we abuse them, that we often don’t realize the damage until it is done.  I know.  “It won’t happen to me.”  We all feel that way.  Some of us are lucky, most are not.  Diabetes is just one of the many lifestyle diseases that is taking away our health, our vitality, our quality of life, and without a doubt draining our bank accounts and threatening to bankrupt our country.  Seriously.  “The cost of diabetes in the United States has soared from $174 billion in 2007 to a staggering $245 billion dollars in 2012, according to a new study released… by the American Diabetes Association.”  (See below for the link.)

Again, this is just ONE of so many diseases that are plaguing us because we have slowly given up the control of our diets to the manufacturers and our hectic lifestyles, while our daily activity levels continue to decrease.  

So I ask you:

• Will you take care of your vehicle?!
• Can you put unleaded fuel in your car, perhaps even premium occasionally?!
• Can you make one healthier choice each day?  You’d be surprised at how easy it becomes once you start doing it regularly.
• Will you get your car out on the road so the tires don’t dry rot and the parts don’t rust?  You don’t have to drag race.  Start with a nice Sunday drive!

The above quote and source:  “The cost of diabetes in the United States has soared from $174 billion in 2007 to a staggering $245 billion dollars in 2012, according to a new study released today by the American Diabetes Association.”  Read more at http://www.inquisitr.com/559781/diabetes-costs-us-245-billion-a-year/#bIgOPkDcDkmzjpgj.99 “