35. You are in charge of your body and your health.

When I was growing up, a trip to see the doctor was a very rare occasion. If we had some minor ailment or a cut or bruise, my parents would deal with the issue with remedies that they had grown up with. You only went to the doctor when you had a "serious" health problem. Doctors were in the same category as the saints and you didn't bother either of them with minor problems. 

Well, times have certainly changed from the self-medicating, yellow mustard plaster days of my youth. Over the years, the family doctor, who was a master of all illnesses and surgeries, was replaced by dozens of specialists for every part of the body. The GP became the gatekeeper for access to all of the cardiologists, renal professionals, oncologists and on and on. In fact, today, the process to have elective surgery can take months and even years. Painful hips and joints, nerve problems and muscular degeneration can take forever to be assessed and treated. This evolution of the delivery and service model has led us to our present condition. 

Health professionals have become overwhelmed with the sick and ailing and can no longer meet the growing needs of an ever-growing public. Health educators have been emphasizing ways that individuals can better be preventative and take more responsibility for their own good health and well being. Healthy food selection and preparation, increased exercise, reduction in alcohol and drug use and stopping smoking are all actively being promoted. Dozens of websites provide the average person with information, recommendations and procedures for dealing with simple illnesses or ailments. We are being encouraged to take more of an active role in our own health and trying to avoid having to seek medical attention.

For some, this approach is very unsettling. Unless you assume more of a personal stake in looking after your own health, you probably consider that the public health system is failing. Until individuals become more health-conscious, the system will be overloaded. Today, it is important to learn to become your own "first responder!”