"Though you cannot go back and make a brand new start my friend, anyone can start from now and get a brand new end."
John Maxwell
I’d like you to imagine yourself 30 years from today. What would that version of you have to say? I am challenging you to have a very real conversation with that person. So often we live in the day to day activities and routines. We accept our deteriorating bodies as “just getting older.”
I am a person who bears an autoimmune disease that can feel like a ticking time bomb. There is a level of awareness and urgency that I find to be a blessing and a curse. However, every single person has something coming down the pipe. How we choose to live and care for ourselves today impacts the future version of ourself.
Cue: Future self, Doc Brown and a DeLorean
Dr. Aaron Boster has been one of the most influential doctors in my MS journey. He has a really informative Youtube channel. If you battle MS and want to educate yourself on the disease, this is a great resource. Making a decision to start something life altering is really hard to give head space. A few years ago he asked an inflammatory question:
“Do you want to dance at your daughter’s wedding or do you want to sit in a wheelchair?”
While this may seem like a hurtful and insensitive thing to ask, it’s a very real and very hard truth. Do I want to dance at my daughter’s wedding? Absolutely! Do I want to be able to push my grandchild in a stroller? Non negotiable.
In the same way, many people often struggle to see what their future will look like from a health perspective if they don’t make intentional decisions about what that looks like today.
Maybe the circumstances aren’t quite as dramatic for you, but with Multiple Sclerosis, losing mobility is a very real outcome. Regardless, not managing your stress levels properly, moving your body consistently, nourishing it in ways that food and meditation cannot, and being aware of toxins in your daily life will have a significant impact on the future you.
You might consider incorporating the calming, relaxing benefits of organic CBD.
The disease modifying drug I chose to start taking is not for the version of me writing this post. It is for the woman 30 years from now that wants to be able to do everything that I am able to do today.
What you do today for your health will determine what the version of you in the future is going to become.
I challenge you to think on these 3 things:
- Are there areas of your health you are not caring for? For example, are you effectively managing a healthy body weight, annually checking your bloodwork, and supplementing where needed?
- What are your stress levels like? Some people lump anxiety and stress into one category. Either way, are they healthy? Are they stable? Do you have tools, both mentally and physically to keep these balanced?
- Is your current life giving you a sense of purpose? Are there areas you could improve or change so that you are living a life that feels meaningful?
While thinking on these things, consider what decisions have brought you to this exact point in your life. Our lives are a direct reflection of choices we have made that have compounded. Our lives compound in either a positive or negative way, resulting in the life you have today.
What will you do today to reverse the negative and fuel the positive to create the life you want to have for your future self?
