The sky is falling, the sky is falling ...or, um, maybe not

It's always interesting how these things happen every so often. A new disease comes out and there's doom and gloom. Suddenly we remember that we're supposed to wash our hands, take our vitamins, get enough sleep, get moderate exercise, cover our mouths and nose when we cough or sneeze, and keep our distance from sick people. Why are we so cyclical?

I clearly remember the bird flu just a few years ago. I believe it was estimated that 2 million Americans were going to die. Oh boy. Fear, fear, fear. It's no way to live. It may surprise you that the CDC estimates more than 200,000 people will be hospitalized and 36,000 people WILL DIE from REGULAR flu every single year. Yep, the regular old flu. And are we even mildly surprised that Malaria kills 3,000 people EVERY DAY??

I guess I'm SLOWLY learning to accept that people will die of all sorts of things--usually because of actions we deem perfectly acceptable. Most often death is ultimately the outcome of eating unhealthy foods (you fill-in-the-blank: fatty, sugary, filled with chemicals from insecticides or from injected hormones), or from not exercising regularly, or from stressful lives, or from smoking, etc. And because those deaths take place over a painfully long period of time, we don't really notice them happening until it's too late. Immunologists already admit that our antibody levels are on the decline. We need antibodies to THRIVE, people.

We've traded normal, natural, healthy preventative methods (eating healthy, exercising, sleeping, etc.) for reactive medicinal methods (vaccines, antibiotics, anti-viral medications, disinfectant handwash/spray, etc.). It should tell us something when even Doug Hardy, an infectious diseases specialist at the University of Texas-Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, says that with the flu vaccine, "You're predicting what's going to happen, before it happens. It's a betting game."

I say all this not so much to make fun of us. Okay, well, I guess it is kind of fun to make fun of humans. We are, by nature, so predictable and hilarious to watch (I don't exclude myself from that humorous depiction, either). But I also share it because you are special to me. Yes you. Every one of you. I don't want to lose any of you any time soon. Nor do I want to witness your family or loved ones saying goodbye to you before they absolutely have to. And there are ways we can all take better care of ourselves in the coming years so that we know our bodies are in optimal condition to handle whatever comes our way.

I'll be blogging in the coming months about a series of documentaries that Lee and I have been watching. They've been shocking, but necessary. The evidences they've presented are especially interesting in light of the latest influenza A (H1N1) scare.

I see a need for lasting change in my life.

I want to make those changes NOW.

I am taking those steps daily.

Oh, and in case you haven't read it already, I absolutely LOVED Dr. Mercola's latest information on the "swine" flu. I totally avoided blogging it because I knew those of you who would really give a flip about my bloggy thoughts on his perspective have probably already read it. If you haven't, you really need to (then come on back here and leave some comments--I'd love to dialogue). It's long, but WELL worth the read for us thinkers. Go HERE.

OR

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/04/28/Swine-Flu.aspx