I was listening to one of the great integrated doctors of our time: Dr Eric Braverman. He said, “ I am going to say something of great importance and I want you to remember it”. He jumped up on to a chair, threw his tie around his neck and said “You are only as strong as your weakest link”.
At the time I thought that the actions were a bit melodramatic, for what was a self-evident truth, but more and more I am drawn back to the wisdom of those nine words.
People come to me to lose weight, to get off anti-depressants, to get off blood pressure medication, to sort out pain issues, and on it goes. We are driven by pain, vanity, ill health and societies conventions.
What is the point of being the ideal weight, having great lungs, liver, kidneys,……… and then you drop dead from a heart attack.
My son has a V8 that makes a magnificent noise, goes from 0 to 100 in some ridiculous time, has some upmarket braking system and a sound system that takes up half the car. The other day his car ground to a halt because the “diff had shot a sad”. A long walk, a towing exercise and $3000 later he was mobile again. The point is that all that fancy stuff came to a grinding halt because of the weak link. Now here is the thing. My son had no idea his diff thing was going to blow. It is the same with the body.
Anti aging, wellness and magnificent health is about finding the weakest links and sorting them.
Now here is a radical thought. Do not wait until you get sick. Make an appointment to see your health practitioner and say “Hi, I am here to discover my weakest link and I would like to work on it to ensure that I do not get sick and maximise my wellness. I do not want to come to you when I am in pain or with some horrid disease. I am here to be the best that I can be.
BUT, why would you? We are all so busy being busy that we only go for help when the wheels start to come off.
Most people with chronic illness did not see it coming. Their weak link snuck up on them and suddenly all that being busy mattered for nothing.
When I am President of the World, I am going to mandate regular wellness checks to identify weak links and fix them before they developed into chronic illness. Think of the suffering that would be spared, the dollars that would be saved and grief that would not be endured. The only losers would be the drug companies who drive our health system and our health response.