Remember that great television ad from Staples featuring the easy button? Everything was resolved with the simple push of a button. It became such a hit that Staples began selling the actual easy button. If only life were that easy. As comical as it might be, reality tells us that many things in life just aren’t designed to be easy. When it comes to our own personal wellness journey, the road inevitable has a few bumps along the way. However, modern day medicine gives us the impression that there is an easy button that comes in the form of prescription medications. A quick fix for any ailment, hence the trend our society is facing today of increasing prescription use. The road to wellness has no use for an easy button because the easy fix does not address the underlying issue and is only a temporary solution.
A recent article from The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA, 11/3/15) highlighted the fact that society’s dependence on prescription drugs is continuing to increase. It also revealed an increase in those who are taking five or more medications as well. Five or more! With the number of side effects related with any medication, taking more than one at a time sounds like a recipe for disaster. How can someone know what “good” feels like if their body is dealing with the effects of the multiple medications they are taking?
While we might wish that there was an easy button when it comes to our health, it simply isn’t the case. What is is time, patience, knowledge, and work. Slowly unraveling the coils of a sedentary lifestyle with poor nutritional food choices. It took time to get us where we are at, it will take time to get us back to where we want to be. Toss out your misconceptions about wellness. There isn’t a band-aid approach that will fix things. There isn’t an easy button or prescription medications that will do the trick. What there is is you – your efforts, your commitment to yourself, your investment of time. A journey of wellness always begins somewhere, but where you go with it is completely up to you.