Investment in Immunity

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After being out cold with illnesses for many months, it dawned to me, that i have spent alot of time to recover, only to be slapped back with another illness. Being out for over 6 months + has put alot of pressure on me, my families and loved ones, my work, my career, my future and much more. Anyway … this post is not for me to cry out loud on what i went through, but a true understanding of “immunity”.

Keeping Ukraine / Russia war as an example in the latest Art of war study. The balance of this  war is based on how much of effort is made to 1st Protect Ukraine from loosing more ground, than focusing on a counter against the oppressors. Alot of effort is going into rebuilding, reinforcing and  what they have. So they are building immunity against the ongoing attacks, while secretly preparing their offense in stages.  Likewise, we ignore to build our defenses in our body, while using every energy we got to fight off illness.

Basically with our defenses (immunity) down, we just take our offensive methods (medicines, antibotics) to fight off illnesses, leaving ourselves tired, weak and in a big defenseless to newer threats.  I loved the way how Cancer.gov addresses the definition of Immunity ;

“the immune system’s way of protecting the body against an infectious disease. The three types of immunity are innate, adaptive, and passive. Innate immunity includes barriers, such as skin and mucous membranes, that keep harmful substances from entering the body. It is the first response of the body’s immune system to a foreign substance. Adaptive immunity occurs in response to being infected with or vaccinated against a microorganism. The body makes an immune response, which can prevent future infection with the microorganism. Adaptive immunity can last a person’s entire life. Passive immunity occurs when a person receives antibodies to a disease rather than making them through his or her own immune system. Passive immunity provides immediate protection but only lasts a few weeks or months.”

They made the definition more like  a war strategy i.e., Innate, Adaptive and passive.  the Allies working with Ukraine’s defense are more adaptive and will have very long lasting impact in various forms, whether diplomatic, economical or even political influences.  In Traditional Warfare of Castles and Fortresses, there would be forts made across natural resources such as top of hills, mountains and others as natural defenses and then further fortified with stone, iron and more. All this done before an active war.

So the biggest question? Why wont we fortify our own body and health?  this applies to me too ? why wont i?  or didnt i ?

it took me a while to find it, but the answer all boils down to priorities and self image/worth. Lets talk about this seperately.

Priorities : For most of us, me included, Health was never a priority. Reasons given a plenty. But one of the excuses we say (in our minds too) is “we will see when we fall sick”, or i know good doctors, or it doesnt matter.  We may these false affirmations to re-assure ourselves that all is ok, no big deal. But thats just a mental note, our Biological being is a machine but currently without any proper maintenance.  We sometimes we prioritize our tiredness after a hard days work and say, im too tired today, but we wont skip meals, tv, calls to our family and others even if we are tired. We tend to satisfy our mental tiredness but ignore our physical demands to rejuvenate.

Life in general is too competitive towards the element of time, demands from our career to bring food on the table, demands to have a stable future, needs of our family, loved ones and others that takes over our priorities.

In most cases our priorities are defined by our culture, way of life, or a continuity to generational methodologies,  i.e take care of everyone and everything first and then yourself. However, on the opposite, It reminds me of the safety precautions preflight,where the airhostess says “In case of an emergency, oxygen masks would fall, pls put it first for you, then for your children or elders” … the Safety guideline basically says, its important to take care of yourself first and then do the rest for others, coz if you are out cold, sick, etc…. there wont be anyone to help your family, work, etc.

In some cases, its a matter of choice, and we say  “See, i know that i have to lively healthy, but this is not my goal at this moment. “i have xyz to do, xyz to teach, xyz to serve, etc etc) and only when i finish those,i will sit with my health and see what needs to be done. In some cases, we know its important, but the fear of the consequences, actually tells us to procrastinate and ignore it.  In All cases, defining our priorities is vital if we need to keep our immunity and defenses in shape. A Simple example is the amount of undisturbed-sleep, that we sacrifice to get the maximum time of the day to our persual. Whether its the needed 8 hours of sleep or even a power nap. We minimise sleep to push ourselves for all other activities, whether its demanded by everyone else (including work) or finding more time for our leisure. We dont make Sleep our priority, we dont make hydrating our priority, Nor are walks and simple basic exercises ….. Yes im at fault too for this all.

Our First role in health care is understand all that is needed to build our immunity and give it the utmost priority. Once that is sorted out. A major investment is taken care and you are free to jump into the world of all sorts of opportunities. Understand and identify the items that is needed to make it a priority? could be

1. Working out (gym, walks, home workouts etc)
2. Hydration (daily water needs)
3. Schedule medical visits, tests
4. Proper food intake, and on time.
5. Supplements in the form of vitamins and others, even Vitamin D directly from the morning sun.
6. Proper amount of sleep and quality of sleep.
7. and many other things that differ from people to people.

These are examples, and it could differ from people to people. The question that needs to be asked, is can you prioritize the above? over everything. Keep these things first, will definitely improve your quality of life and minimize health concerns and even health costs. Health care costs have surged very high over the years and is one of the biggest expenses at the moment. Yes investing in Immunity has higher costs based on your lifestyle for example you could go to a luxury gym or buy expensive workout equipment for home vs someone who goes to a small time gym or buy a handful of dumbbells to work out or just goes for walks. But imagine you dont have full insurance, a single illness can wipe out your savings. In the last 1 and half month, i have personally started working on atleast 5 of these points and it has brought about a slow rate of success.

Self Image/Worth : A lot of my friends, (me included) at one point of time, looked at ourselves with a low image or look down upon ourselves.  Each of reasons are different, maybe we dont earn a level we deserve, maybe we are not as handsome or pretty as we truly are, or not just appreciated by our colleagues or even family as such, or a certain body injury has caused long term fears and much more. We all know the real reason from within.  but having a low self esteem is one of the major reason, we keep aside alot of important things that would otherwise actually helps.

Healthdirect.gov.au defines this as : Self-esteem is the way we think about ourselves and the value we place on ourselves. We all criticise ourselves from time to time, but if you often think badly about yourself or judge yourself negatively, you may have low self-esteem.

There are many symptoms of Low self esteem

• Lack of confidence.
• External focus of control.
• Negative social comparisons.
• Trouble asking for help.
• Worry and doubt.
• Difficulty accepting compliments.
• Negative self-talk.
• Fear of failure.
• Fear to attempt newer opportunities
• etc 

This causes a mental breakdown thus in a big way indirectly affecting your immunity. It also causes unwanted weight gain through stress eating, or being submissive to your own version of failure. Again this list can defer people to people. People with serious Low Self Esteem would enter into different levels of procrastination which inturn causes more damage to priorities, achievements and personal goals. Procrastination is a silent killer, it slows your mind to make you unsure of everything you do. it gives you the approval to postpone simple things or make you feel lethargic to do anything else. Ultimately affecting your immunity levels and even lead to more dangerous things such as anxiety attacks and depression or indirect matters such as power performance at work, lack of contribution to family or society and more.

There are many ways to resolve low self esteem and doubt. But the most important on here is to have either a

• A Mentor
• A Close friend or family
• or a colleague who could become an accountability partner. 

But in all cases the other person should be fun, willing and discreptive about what you are going through.  Should be able to guide you ahead, hold your hand to push you ahead, able to listen to your tantrums, but still push you ahead.  Now this person is not your agony aunt/uncle but a coach, a guide or a support structure to see you be on your path to success.

The 2nd role is to get you to see your self more positively. One thing that has helped me in a big way is taking selfies. I used to dislike my photos whether taken by me or anyone else. But when my mentor told me to start taking photos and start finding the angle, the expression, the lighting and more, only to find the right way to get my photos. i started to like what i saw. i realised i felt no longer bad in taking my own pics. (though i have to take many photos to get that 1 pic – i truly do like). I had started to like who i am visually and started to work on my imperfections. Self Love is a great thing, that can contribute towards building a stronger immunity towards both mental and physical issues.

The 3rd role, which majorly improved my Self image and Worth, is to find, create and make opportunities to be happier. I realised i wanted opportunities to find adventure, be with loved ones and close friends.  Now opportunities by itself may not come up due to priorities set by everyone.  So i started to create them, search for them and make them by myself. For example. i would scour the internet for events (mostly free or less paid)  … events that involved meeting new people, events that allowed me to explore, that allowed me to relax and heal. People bring alot of vibe and energy and that definitely contributes towards your brand, self image and definitely better immunity and then i posted few on socialmedia, which increased my following, as  many further inspired me to do on more completed events

This is probably my longest article and it should end on a positive note. In All cases investment in immunity involves, many factors from priorities to how you carry youself. If you want to fortify your energy levels. Then Stop procrastination and Start!!!! You need to leave a legacy behind that inspire future generations.

Cheers!

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