It was on the 4th of June in the afternoon, I was on the way back from Manipal Hospital after meeting Dr C Shivaram, Head of the transfusion medicine department at the Hospital.
As I was about to get into my car I received a phone call from my uncle Amarnath who lived in Mumbai and visited Bangalore frequently.
I hadn’t spoken to him for a long time and I thought there was some dinner party he was organizing for which he had called presently.
But as he began speaking I realized that this was regarding something serious.
Uncle Amarnath began by mentioning that there was bad news he wanted to share and this made me anxious and curious.
Amarnath then went on to speak about his other nephew lowering his voice a bit, my first cousin Ajit, a C.A, having been on his way to meet a client for an audit.
And then he mentioned what had happened, about the tragedy, 40 year old Ajit had suffered from a massive heart attack and had breathed his last before he could be admitted to any hospital to treat his malady.
This heart-wrenching information filled me with grief, how could a person of such a tender age have a life-span so brief.
The reason I share this story is not only to draw your attention to the steep increase in incidence of Life style diseases like Heart ailments, Diabetes and hypertension
Neither is the intention to highlight the twists and turns of destiny and how shocking incidents can shake up the lives of people like it did to Ajit’s family.
What I want to share today is the race that I as an individual am running and about the trigger that set me off in the first place.
Health is wealth, Good health is the greatest asset, however, very often as we go through life, we ignore this very facet.
Although good health habits like exercise and healthy food can't ward off all illnesses, they go a long way towards preventing many major illnesses, such as Diabetes, heart disease, stroke, osteoporosis etc.
It took an indication of cardiac risk (read high cholesterol and a failed treadmill test) for me to start going through the rigor, in a way this indication, served as a trigger.
There are three valuable practices that have been making a difference over the past few months.
1) Exercise: Besides being able to burn calories and shed excess fat I have found another benefit of walking or running every morning, it helps me focus better as an additional benefit.
2) I have been off fatty foods and junk food and which has resulted in an overall sense of well-being and better mood.
3) Adequate Sleep is a must as experts will tell; If you can include some meditation and Pranayama in your day’s activities it would serve you well.
Well I agree there’s nothing new or revolutionary that I have to share however its not the understanding but the implementation of this messages that’s rare.
One can always take baby steps towards inculcating these habits.
For example:
In place of running yourself ragged at the gym straight away, take the stairway instead of the elevator.
Set time aside for slowly enjoying each meal and prevent mindless overeating.
These tips often don’t get implemented as we don’t know where to begin, or we may begin but we don’t know how to sustain. Take my example, in my case the starter’s gun for this race, my failed treadmill test, told me one thing
That these changes need to be brought in Now.
I would like to end with a quote by Eckhardt Tolle nothing has happened in the past; it happened in the Now. Nothing will ever happen in the future; it will happen in the Now.
You know, all that really matters is that the people you love are happy and healthy. Everything else is just like sprinkles on the sundae.
Till next time Jgd.
(Names have been changed to protect the respective identities.)
But as he began speaking I realized that this was regarding something serious.
Uncle Amarnath began by mentioning that there was bad news he wanted to share and this made me anxious and curious.
Amarnath then went on to speak about his other nephew lowering his voice a bit, my first cousin Ajit, a C.A, having been on his way to meet a client for an audit.
And then he mentioned what had happened, about the tragedy, 40 year old Ajit had suffered from a massive heart attack and had breathed his last before he could be admitted to any hospital to treat his malady.
This heart-wrenching information filled me with grief, how could a person of such a tender age have a life-span so brief.
The reason I share this story is not only to draw your attention to the steep increase in incidence of Life style diseases like Heart ailments, Diabetes and hypertension
Neither is the intention to highlight the twists and turns of destiny and how shocking incidents can shake up the lives of people like it did to Ajit’s family.
What I want to share today is the race that I as an individual am running and about the trigger that set me off in the first place.
Health is wealth, Good health is the greatest asset, however, very often as we go through life, we ignore this very facet.
Although good health habits like exercise and healthy food can't ward off all illnesses, they go a long way towards preventing many major illnesses, such as Diabetes, heart disease, stroke, osteoporosis etc.
It took an indication of cardiac risk (read high cholesterol and a failed treadmill test) for me to start going through the rigor, in a way this indication, served as a trigger.
There are three valuable practices that have been making a difference over the past few months.
1) Exercise: Besides being able to burn calories and shed excess fat I have found another benefit of walking or running every morning, it helps me focus better as an additional benefit.
2) I have been off fatty foods and junk food and which has resulted in an overall sense of well-being and better mood.
3) Adequate Sleep is a must as experts will tell; If you can include some meditation and Pranayama in your day’s activities it would serve you well.
Well I agree there’s nothing new or revolutionary that I have to share however its not the understanding but the implementation of this messages that’s rare.
One can always take baby steps towards inculcating these habits.
For example:
In place of running yourself ragged at the gym straight away, take the stairway instead of the elevator.
Set time aside for slowly enjoying each meal and prevent mindless overeating.
These tips often don’t get implemented as we don’t know where to begin, or we may begin but we don’t know how to sustain. Take my example, in my case the starter’s gun for this race, my failed treadmill test, told me one thing
That these changes need to be brought in Now.
I would like to end with a quote by Eckhardt Tolle nothing has happened in the past; it happened in the Now. Nothing will ever happen in the future; it will happen in the Now.
You know, all that really matters is that the people you love are happy and healthy. Everything else is just like sprinkles on the sundae.
Till next time Jgd.
(Names have been changed to protect the respective identities.)
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