Be Accountable

Entitlement seems to be a common form of thinking these days. People for some reason think they are entitled to things they haven't earned. I am of a different generation, one where if you won the race you got the trophy. If you didn't win, you got nothing. If you wanted to buy something, you saved and bought it when you earned enough money for it.

Times seem to be different today, even my own children seem to have a small sense of entitlement inside them. And that did not come from my wife or I. With the internet, instant gratification seems to be the norm for people today. Some won't remember many moons ago, when you had to write an essay for class, you had to wait for your folks to drive you to the library, then you had to know the Dewey Decimal System in order to find the subject and books you needed to research and write your essay.

I grew up in the country and in 7th grade is when I discovered sports, wrestling, football, track, etc. As a 7th grader who never wrestled before, I found myself somewhat behind in the skills, knowledge and strength needed to be good at it. So, I trained my body, developed my skills, learned from others how to wrestle better. I didn't think for a minute that I was good at it after the first year, or even two. But I liked it and worked hard at it to become better. Summer camps, programs, etc. I always made the weight I was asked to make, I wrestled my hardest all the time too.

I am not a runner or swimmer, I could ride and race a bicycle with the best of them back in the day, but sucked and running and could swim, but only for fun and survival. So what did I do? I signed up for a triathlon. LOL

I trained all summer, had some swimming friends help me swim better, I ran, again, not well, but trained my body to do what needed to be done. I did my triathlon and did very well in it too.

In high school I was pretty lucky, I got pretty good grades with little effort, but in grad school, that was more a curse, I had to learn to study, retain and then produce the correct answers because I really didn't need those skills to get through high school.

Why am I telling you all this? Well, I didn't use excuses back then, I found solutions and worked pretty hard to learn them correctly. I held MYSELF, not my parents, teachers or others accountable for my results. I needed my parents, teachers and others to instruct me, but ultimately, I was accountable to myself.

Now, looking around just my own little city, many people are not accountable for their own actions, or more specifically their health. I have met several people who are smoking, drinking and eating fried foods who are complaining about their health, the cost of medical stuff, insurance etc. Well, if these people would hold themselves accountable for their health even a little bit, they would probably have a much better life.

Lets just look at a couple BIG ones, weight and blood pressure. First off, many obese people blame genetics even as they sit at McDonalds eating a big mac. I am sorry, genetics probably does play a role in a very, very select few, but it is lifestyle that dictates this for most overweight people. But its much easier to BLAME genetics than it is to hold yourself accountable and actually work on diet, exercise and a better lifestyle. READ THAT AGAIN, IT's IMPORTANT.

Blood Pressure is another big one, why change your lifestyle when its way easier to just pop a pill that will lower ones blood pressure. Don't get me wrong, high blood pressure is a medical condition and a serious one that needs to be addressed. But if all one does is take a pill, you are not holding yourself accountable for your own health. You need to work on stress reduction, diet, fitness and much more, and you need to do that FOR yourself. If a pill is still needed after all that is addressed, then so be it, but taking a pill and doing nothing else is not being Accountable to yourself and health.

There are countless examples of this, and I see them everywhere, my goal for my practice members is to help them work towards being ACCOUNTABLE for their own health, because I want them to live a healthy, happy long life.