Life is unfair.

When I was 13 years old my father died a painful death from pancreatic cancer. He was 46 years old and at the time I felt my world drop out from under me and thought I would not be able to go on. We do not know all the causes of cancer, but we now know that excessive drinking and smoking can encourage pancreatic cells to morph into cancerous ones. My father smoked, drank, and generally ignored his health. So at the time when he died, I felt LIFE IS SO UNFAIR and “why is this happening to me?” My father was shell-shocked and fought to live, but he fought too late because he should have been taking care of his health all along and refused to.

Later in my life, when I was an adult, I suffered from severe allergies, year-round bronchitis, severe migraines, high blood pressure, and more. I begged my doctors for a cure; for a pill that would really help me. I was taking over a dozen prescriptions a day. No pill seemed to help me and I spent my life in constant pain and year-round illness. One year I had to visit my doctors every week, with barely any relief. I cried bitterly and shook my fists at the heavens. Nothing worked and I felt it was, perhaps, the end of my life. Again, I felt LIFE IS SO UNFAIR and “why is this happening to me?”. Mostly I thought, “GIVE ME A PILL!”

Then one day my husband and I figured out that when I went into my laundry room I felt dizzy. I realized I stored all my chemicals out on the shelves and was breathing fumes from them even though the cleaning chemicals were closed. We put all the chemicals in closed boxes. Next time I walked into the laundry room I no longer felt dizzy.

This led to my considering EVERYTHING in my life. How are we all being exposed to chemicals? How am I specifically being exposed? When do I get outside to breathe fresh air? Chemical exposure and working in offices where I rarely saw the light of day had contributed to my allergies and illness over the years. I made three simple, yet powerful, changes in my life which ultimately led to my reducing my dependency on prescriptions and ultimately publishing inspirational books encouraging others to live green.

3 Changes To Help Your Health

1. I reduced chemical exposure at home by using less chemical cleaners and putting them away in storage when I was not using them.

2. I eat more organic foods which have a lower chemical content. If I grow these foods myself I spend less money on them.

3. I get out in nature to get lots of sunlight and fresh air frequently.

Chemicals are EVERYWHERE and in EVERYTHING – we humans are poisoning ourselves!! It all leads back to the lesson I learned from my father’s death. If he had been taking care of himself better, limiting his exposure to chemicals, eating healthier, getting regular exercise, building community, and living greener, would he be dead now?

The Lesson

We humans should be taking care of our health ALL ALONG. Why are we refusing to see common sense and reducing the chemicals we are being exposed to? Many of us spend a lot of time whining about how we do not want to “sacrifice” eating junk food and using powerful cleaning chemicals because LIFE IS NOT FAIR and we want to have our cake and eat it too. For me reducing chemical exposure is not a sacrifice, but a common-sense move that is smart for your family and the world.

LIFE IS UNFAIR. Get over it. Get Green. Get Healthy. TODAY!