A Man’s Search for Health
At 7am, I ease myself out of bed. I sit at the edge of the mattress and meditate. In the quiet of my mind, my slumber gives way to an awareness of the physical world around me. As my mind gains focus, I affirm myself of the great things I shall accomplish today. Five minutes go by, and I plug into the physical world.
My day begins.
As I engage in my routine, the mind and the body slowly come to life. Energy begins to course through every vein and muscle fibre in my body — the kind of energy that says “Carpe Diem! Seize the day!”.
This is the same energy that had eluded me for the best part of my life, the lack of which made me a living dead. The journey to reclaim my energy and my health has preoccupied me for well over a decade, but today the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel is finally within sight.
The Motivation Behind The Great U-turn
One dark day in 2012, I snapped. I was weary from feeling tired, dispirited from feeling depressed. This had to go, I told myself. I had to change. By then, I had spent 5 years of amassing health knowledge, but the real battle was dissolving my incredible resistance to change. My real disease was inaction.
Knowledge is not power. Knowledge is only potential power. Action is power. — Tony Robbins
In all honesty, I didn’t know what I was doing when I embarked on this journey. I knew, however, that I was taking the first and biggest step to break free from the chains of my pathological burdens.
The real motivation for the change, however, was that I felt responsible not just for myself. For failing to take charge of my body, I was an irresponsible friend, a family member, and an employee. If I had continued, I would eventually be a burden to society. My sickness made me do stupid mistakes, affected my behaviour and my work performance. Benjamin Hardy explains it well in How to Make Immediate Behavior Changes:
You are not only damaging your own life by not making needed changes, but you are also damaging the lives of those around you. This isn’t a joke. Taking personal responsibility is key, which is not the same as feeling guilt.
Shortly after proclaiming my conviction to fix my body, I penned my Definition of Wellness:
To be healthy is to wake up every day filled with a zest for life, having abundant energy to blaze through the day with laser focus and mental clarity. Slumber comes effortlessly at the end of the day. Life every day shall be as such, free from any chronic illness known to humankind.
The first step was the undoubtedly the most important. That was one small step for a sick man, one giant leap towards vitality. While I haven’t yet attained that goal, I am happy to announce that I’m 90% there.
In a Previous Life
As far as I can recall, my health had never been in a good shape. My childhood was a daily dose of sinus [sic] (that’s what Singaporeans liked to call it), with occasional bouts of high fever and sore throat that felt like a blade was stuck in there. My parents made every effort to get my health in order but nothing seemed to help. Personally, I paid little attention to my conditions and survived day-to-day with a low-grade illness.
By 2012, I had become a wreck from 2 decades of wilful negligence. Every waking hour was spent looking forward to my next snooze. I began the day feeling completely defeated. At work, I was a lifeless corpse. When the day ended, I wanted to do little more than to crash.
I was a living zombie.
In retrospect, I am genuinely amazed that I survived 20 years of living in such mediocrity. On the other hand, without enduring the hardship, I never would’ve discovered health, nutrition, and the amazing healing tools that handed life back to me. Such are the ironies of life!
What Lays Ahead
Five years back, I made a commitment to turn my health around. Today, I make a commitment to reveal my story to the rest of the world. By chronicling my healing journey, I hope to inspire others to do the same for themselves.
If you wake up every day to lethargy, bodily pain, depression, runny nose, or whatever chronic illness for that matter, don’t wait a moment longer. Don’t delude yourself that you will be better tomorrow because it will go away.
You pile up enough tomorrows, and you’ll find you are left with nothing but a lot of empty yesterdays. — Meredith Willson
For 20 years, I lived a life governed by illnesses. It was a life without purpose and with zero satisfaction.
Life is so short. Why waste yet another day feeling lousy, when you can start feeling well today? Join me and commit yourself to a life of abundant energy and free from chronic illnesses.
Begin your new life today. Seize the reins to your health!
