5/4: INVEST IN YOURSELF

This past week I took time off from the gym to try to heal some nagging issues.  By “taking time off”, that of course means I saw my nutritionist on Tuesday, my personal trainer on Wednesday, and my chiropractor on Thursday.  Everything beyond that did actually consist of rest.  All told with those 3 visits, I spent about $400.  While I would prefer to NOT have to spend that money, I am very fortunate that my wife and I have the resources to be able to do so.  In the past, I looked at these things as expenses, but as I’ve matured, I now look at these things as an investment in myself.

I don’t HAVE to see any of those practitioners.  I’m not going to die by not seeing any of them, but I will tell you that my quality of life would be so much lower.  You are either going to pay for your health now, or pay for it later.  You are either going to spend money on physical exercise now, or surgery and drugs later.  You are either going to spend money on high quality food now, or expensive medicine later.   My back first locked up on me in college when I was 22.  At that time, I feared that if I was this bad at 22, I was going to be a complete disaster by the time I was 40, so I started addressing it immediately.

I didn’t just pay someone for martial arts classes, I INVESTED in myself, banking on doing things that would benefit me in the future.  I think the results now speak for themselves.  At 55 I am able to compete at the highest level of BJJ, I am on no medication, and most people who meet me for the first time think I’m in my late 30’s or early 40’s.

I still struggle emotionally when it comes to the “security” that money provides, but we were never meant to hoard money in a bank account.  What good does that do for us compared to using that resource to benefit our lives?  I think everyone in their 40’s and beyond realizes that if you don’t have your health, you don’t have anything.  I can’t imagine where I’d be in life if I DIDN’T invest in all of the physical care I have undertaken over the past 30 years.

When I was president of the Farmington Jaycees, I told all of my board members that their #1 priority should be themselves.  In an organization with a mission of helping others, it initially seems a little counterintuitive.  However, you can be of no benefit to others if you yourself are not in shape to be able to help others.  Now, of course, this doesn’t mean that you ONLY think of yourself or that you ALWAYS prioritize your own interests, but you need to prioritize being healthy.

What are you doing today to invest in yourself?  If you are reading this message, you are probably a student that is investing in learning a skill that will help you both physically and mentally in life.  If you are reading this and are NOT a student, what are you doing to invest in yourself?   Are you eating healthy?  Are you going to the gym?  Are you trying to get off medications?

We are going to pay for our health sooner or later.  The sooner we pay for it, the longer we will live a healthy, productive life.  Yes, training Jiu-Jitsu at 55 and being one of the smallest people on the mat is hard.  But I can tell you, being a 55-year-old that has let their body go, is overweight and undernourished is a hell of a lot harder.