Remember, you are special, just like everyone else.
It is true. Through the science of biology we can see what we are physically all made of – where we share certain DNA with other animals and even plants, how we are comprised of compounds found throughout the known universe – “We are stardust” as the late great Astrophysicist Carl Sagan said. But each of us is also as unique as every grain of sand or snowflake. Let’s reclaim that word “Snowflake” and stop using it as something derogatory. There is so much power in the impermanence of those tiny crystalline fractals falling from the cold sky, which will never ever be reproduced exactly alike ever again. You want to try and grasp the concept of the infinite, well there it is!
Yet there is a particular area of our lives that often short-changes us when it comes to each of our unique literal and metaphorical thumbprints, and that is health care. As someone who promotes health care, I like to say we must empower ourselves and each other towards a resilient life. The definition of resilience is the capacity to overcome and recover quickly from difficulties. The biology in our lives – our environments and our genetic DNA – will hand us lemons throughout life, and that is why we must become adept to making lemon-aid! (Sorry, but I couldn’t resist that pun.)
Certainly most whom are called to work in health care fields have a desire to help others find relief, comfort, and feel their best. The shortcoming lies in the one-size-fits-all model of treatments. Not everyone will thrive on the same dietary protocols, not everyone will manifest the exact same symptoms to the same degree in every named illness, not everyone has the same mental and/or emotional support in their lives to help nurture them back to wellness, not everyone feels confident or informed enough to ask questions on their own behalf. This is where the empowerment piece comes in. We all must learn how to be our own best advocates when it comes to our health, because we are ultimately our own best chance for not just surviving, but thriving.
We would do well to reflect upon how unique we all are, and how that does impact our state of well being and the aspects of care that must be followed to restore individual balance. If we each feel empowered in this way then collectively we will be the better for it. A healthy community is a strong community after all.