The herniated disk that plagued me most of the fall finally resolved itself. However, dealing with it meant visiting with lots of doctors. In the course of the visits, my profession would come up and every single one of the doctors – without fail – said “oh, I really need to do a will” and they would then begin to list the reasons they hadn’t – busy, in med school, lots of debt, had just started making “real” money, no kids, just had kids, no excuse, etc. It was a funny change of position since I think they probably often see patients who know they should do things that are helpful and healthy, but don’t actually do them. Since I’m well aware of the lack of effectiveness of lectures on what you “should” do, I just smiled and nodded and assured them they were in good company, silently wondering if I had any business cards I could leave them on my way out, just in case the urge overtook them.
These are people who know all too well that accidents happen, that incapacity could be just around the corner, that there are innumerable ways for our wonderful brains and spinal cords to stop working and they still don’t put a plan in to place. If they don’t, what hope do the rest of us have for doing all of those things that would be so good for us if we would just do them? Nobody is neglecting these things because they think they don’t matter. I don’t avoid vegetables because I think they aren’t actually healthy. No, I avoid them because when I think about how many servings I’m “supposed” to have I get overwhelmed and can’t figure out where 7 servings are going to fit in my day, and salads are boring, and the broccoli has gone to seed in the vegetable drawer again. We don’t avoid exercise because we think its bad for us – we avoid it because there are a million conflicting theories about which is best and we are confused, and it’s cold out, and our knee hurts and we’re afraid of becoming obsessed with Crossfit and sometimes it is just easier to let Netflix go to “next episode.”
Changing our behaviors isn’t going to come from more lectures or more options. All too often it doesn’t occur until a person is sitting as a captive audience in your office because they have finally reached the pain point and then, while you are helping them with their herniated disk (or the mess their parent left behind by not having a will) you can sneak in the lectures about the importance of vitamin D and calcium and an ergonomic workstation (or talking to your family about your health care wishes and naming guardians for your children.) And then, when the person is finally willing to budge a little, because they have seen the consequences of their own or someone else’s inaction, you provide them with a few options that would work and let them choose from there.
Here’s to a healthy new year!
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