The straw that broke the camels...

...back.

Most everybody has heard this analogy and understands it to some degree; but as it pertains to your health, I think it is underestimated how much this cheeky saying holds true.  I like it because it also holds true to the KIS(S) principle...Keep It Simple.

A majority of the time when people find their way into my office with a health problem it is NOT because of a singular event and more often than not they are initially clueless as to WHY or HOW said health problem is happening to them. Typically, however, we need not dig too deep to uncover some pretty logical explanations as to why their magnificient, self-healing, self-regulating, miracle-a-minute, intelligent-interacting-combination of trillions of cells (a.k.a thier body) has left them in a state of distress, disease and dysfunction.

Minute-to-minute, hour-to-hour, day-to-day the negative stress (straw) we put our bodies through does not seem signficant enough to dent the invisible armor most of us are born with.  However, over weeks, months and years these light fluffy pieces of straw accumulate into a huge mound of wet, heavy, soggy, stinky straw.  Eventually you are one peice short of one peice more than your body can handle...then you sneeze...and BAM!  You can't stand up straight.   A sneeze, something you've done thousands of times before and something that you should normally be able to tolerate, is too much for your weakened body to hold up.  It collapses.  

If you are suffering with a health problem and don't understand how or why your body came to be this way, don't think about the ensuing days, weeks or even months leading up to your problem...think about how you have been taking care of your body for years, heck - since as far back as you can remember.  It may make more sense then on how you got to where you are and also, make sense on what you may need to do and how long it may take to unload the stress the you have accumulated.  Stop blaming your bed, your pillow, getting old, sleeping wrong and bad luck.  Start taking responsibility for the mess that you have created and make a plan for cleaning out your closet and getting your health organized.  

Make a two lists, 'Eustress' and 'Distress'.  Add up all the items in the eustress (good stress) column and compare it to the total of all the items in the distress (bad stress) column.  At the end of the day today, were you net healthier, or net sicker than you were when you started?  What can you change tomorrow to improve your euqation and stack the health odds in your favor?