When I was a boy I went to the eye doctor... thinking there was no way I needed glasses. When the doctor did the examination and put some lenses over my eyes and asked me to read the chart, I could not believe the clarity of which I could see. I thought everyone saw the world with the same fuzziness that I saw it. In fact, I did not even realize it was fuzzy! I thought it was normal! 

Many people think its just too expensive to try to be healthy these days. And on the surface, it does seem that way. But most people have never stopped to think about how much it costs to be unhealthy. The cost of poor health could actually far exceed the investment in your health. 

Medical/drug costs, for example, costs an additional $200/year for each unit of additional Body Mass Index (BMI). That means if someone has a BMI of 32 (obese), and they need to have a BMI of 25 (healthy), that's a difference of 7 BMI units, or $1,400 per year, according to research.

 How about life expectancy? Research shows that high risk factors will reduce your life by 2-6 years. Not only that, but the later years of your life will be of far less quality than they could otherwise be. What is it worth to you to live an extra 2-6 years? To see your kids reach their goals? To watch your grandkids grow up? This may be a distant cost, but it is a cost that you will have to pay! And when the time comes, you may not be able to afford to pay it then! What could be a small investment in your health now could result in GREAT value later on. 

Been laid off lately or passed over for a promotion? What part could health have played in that? Perhaps it was your appearance. Or perhaps you simply are unable to perform at your peak levels because you can't fully focus.. can't completely give it your best effort. How much is a lost job or lack of a promotion costing you right now? 

And then there are the intangibles. Hard to put a dollar value on them, but they still exist. What does it cost to have little energy? To have low self-esteem and confidence because of how you look? To not be able to sleep comfortably at night? 

Have you added up all the things you spend money on to help you through these issues? We buy expensive mattresses and gizmos to help us sleep. We load up on expensive coffee and energy drinks to get us through the day. We buy comfort-food snacks at convenience store prices to satisfy our low esteems. We expend negative energy blaming other people because we got laid off or passed on a promotion. 

Basically, we spend a lot of money to cover up the symptoms without addressing the actual problem! 

Most people have not taken the time to think it through. It's too much work, and they are tired enough already to have to think about how much their poor health situation is costing them. They'd rather just keep spending money blindly on things that won't fix the problem than take some time to assess what they they could do differently.

Remember my eye doctor story at the top of this page? For many people, after many years of living with poor health, they don't even know the world is fuzzy. They joke about it so they don't have to think about it, and so they don't have to feel bad about it. They don't realize there is a better way. They don't realize a small investment in their health could pay off huge dividends that could save them money, time, energy, and quality of life!