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Who is Responsible for Physical Health?
By Greg Andersen

Most people think wellness is a question of eating your vegetables, taking a daily walk, and having good genes. In the long run, they figure, "my genes will determine my health and my life. My efforts are secondary."

That belief is an illustration. The Law of Personal Accountability states that it is we - yes, you and I - who are responsible, first and foremost, for our own wellness.

Implications of the Law of Personal Accountability.

Two wellness conclusions we know to be true:

• Behaviors contribute to illness or wellness. Our choices regarding food, alcohol, tobacco, exercise, and drugs have profound effects on the development of disease and our potential for recovery from disease.
  
  The list of examples is long. The link between wine, cheese, chocolate, and migraine headaches is widely acknowledged. Diabetics can control the amount of insulin they require by care and attention to proper diet and nutrition. Exercise can help rebuild a person's entire cardiovascular system following heart disease.
  
  In case after case, behaviors within our control influence, for better or worse, both the onset of and the recovery from a wide variety of illnesses.
  
  
• Responses, both emotional and spiritual, can lead to physical changes. Prevention magazine, in a widely quoted study, reported that 90 percent of all physical problems have psychological roots. That may sound like a gross exaggeration. In fact, ongoing research indicates that it is probably a conservative estimate.

Your physiological state is determined in large part by the way you respond to the circumstances of our life. A calm response generates "soothing" biochemical's. An angry or fearful high-stress response generates toxic biochemical's. Over a prolonged period, unchecked psychological stress can contribute to illness by creating physiological turmoil.

Study after study links our response to stress with a long list of "dis-eases." Thousands of asthma sufferers obtain immediate relief by using basic relaxation techniques. The same is true for people dealing with chest pains related to heart disease. Arthritis sufferers who go through therapy to address and resolve issues of harbored anger and resentment find dramatic relief from their symptoms. Even children with problems - from colicky babies and bed-wetting three-year-olds to kindergartners with frequent stomachaches and sore throats - are often responding to major sources of stress in their environment, says Harold Jackson, a Greenville , South Carolina , pediatrician.

The Law of Personal Accountability shouts that we have the ability to choose both our behaviors and our responses! It's more than stress management; it's personal choice.

The power of this law is stupendous, its implications massive.

On the negative side, if we neglect giving mindful attention to our behaviors and responses, we will surely deteriorate physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

The good news is that this coin has two sides. Although our inattention can contribute to our lack of total well being, we also have the power to choose positive behaviors and responses.