don's report archive

by Donald B. Ardell, Ph. D.

Wellness in the Headlines
(Don's Report to the World)

Of no distemper, of no blast he died,
But fell like autumn fruit that mellow'd long,-
Even wonder'd at, because he dropp'd no sooner.
Fate seem'd to wind him up for fourscore years,
Yet freshly ran he on ten winters more;
Till like a clock worn out with eating time,
The wheels of weary life at last stood still.
John Dryden (1631-1700)

Who well lives, long lives; for this age of ours Should not be numbered by years, daies, and hours.
Guillaume de Salluste Du Bartas (1544-1590)

"There is little we can do about the length of our lives save to shorten them," or so claimed a wag convinced that genetics holds the key to longevity, but not everyone agrees. Wellness enthusiasts don't even care, at least not that much, because their motive for choosing a wellness lifestyle is quality, not length of life. Wellness enthusiasts seek health extension more than life extension. The cost of medical care (erroneously termed "health" care) shows the population is focused on life extension, not health extension. An immense industry peddles a nearly unlimited range of drugs, herbs, vitamins, hormones and invasive procedures to ease pain, cure disease and extend life.

Americans spent $1.5 to $1.7 trillion dollars (14 percent of GNP) last year on health/medical services. The inflation rate was 3.3 percent; healthcare costs increased 11 percent--that is over three times more than the rate jump for everything else. The overwhelming medical opinion is that most of this medical spending would be saved if people were more conscientious about looking after themselves. The Wellness Council of America (WELCOA) holds that 70 percent of all illnesses are preventable. How much did you spend last year on medical care, including health insurance? If you spent less than $5,805, you are doing better than most in this regard.

Only 17.7 percent of medical costs are paid out of pocket; if it were more, people might take better care of themselves and invest more in health expansion. Then again, maybe not. Yet, saving money, minimizing pain and avoiding premature death are not the best reasons for adopting wellness lifestyles. They are good reasons, but there is a better rationale for sensible lifestyles. Added life satisfaction with health extension would be a much better basis for exercising more, eating better, managing stress and otherwise respecting most known principles for effective living in the fifteen skill areas of the wellness model (at SeekWellness.com.)

S. Jay Olshansky, in The Quest for Immortality (Norton, 2001), writes: "Though cobbled together by the blind eye of evolution, humans have proved to be a remarkably successful species. We have out-competed almost every organism that we have encountered, with the notable exception of microbes...We are...the only species that has figured out how to escape premature death and survive to old age. At this point in history, we need to exploit our expanding knowledge of evolution to enhance the quality of our lives as we grow older because the single minded pursuit of life extension without considering health extension could be disastrous."

Life really is short, even if you live for a century. There are no sure things. A complex network of interacting events and circumstances affects our lives in ways we can rarely predict or control. In addition, our biochemical processes are an unknowable mix of genetic and environmental complexities, with variables that play out for better or worse, despite our best thoughts, feelings and actions. There is no need to remind even the most hard-core wellness enthusiast, such as yours truly, not to take health for granted. Guarantees are not available, even when you do your part to be well and then some. Just the same, your chances of extended health, if not extended life, are certainly much greater when you DO play a positive part, daily, in the quality of your life. Choose wellness--and look on the bright side of life.

(Note: This essay will be filed in the archives in the MEANING DOMAIN under the skill area of applied wellness. Additional articles related to this theme may be found there.)

(Ed. Note: Views expressed in this and other columns are those of the author and not necessarily those of the SeekWellness Editorial Board.)

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