health and wellness

       HEALTH AND WELLNESS

Wellness is the quality or state of being in good health. Wellness is more than being free from sickness, illness, and various health conditions. Wellness is a dynamic process of change and growth. We all know this saying that change is the only constant in life, and growth refers to a change in time and maturity. If these statements are factual, why is it that as we age, we resist change and fear growth? Over the last 15 years, we've seen a rise in medical costs and healthcare expenses across the United States. 

We have also watched the fast food chains become more of an every day and night convenience for the busy parent raising their children. As a result of these poor nutritional habits, we have actually made the United States one of the most unhealthy places to live. We have turned Taco Tuesday into a national holiday. And our children, well, they've come to glorify a Happy Meal. We have watched our generation change from cattle raisers and farmers and homemakers to generations fixated on fast, easy, and cheap.

      

 According to the American Heart Association, children between the ages of three and five will not outlive their parents. So I ask you now how do we reverse what we've created? Generations not knowing how to survive without modern technology and a drive-through? And how are you and I going to help to make generations better around us? I know my mission may seem bold, right? Some thin young millennial discussing health and wellness as if she's had some severe health problems herself. 

Although I may look like I know nothing about binge-eating comfort foods or finding satisfaction in those late-night desserts, I was once that girl. I never had a severe weight issue, but as a child, I witnessed my father, who was a truck driver, and my mother, a local certified nursing assistant. Everything was fast frozen or on the go all the time. My dad, Paul David Kennedy, stood 6ft four inches tall, weighing around 300 pounds. His nickname was Santa Claus and for good reason. His on-the-go eating habits got the best of him, and he suffered from diabetes most of his life.

 I can still remember the day that I got the news. It was a typical Tuesday afternoon, around 03:45 p.m... And I had arrived home from the school bus. To my surprise, I saw my dad's truck in the driveway. He wasn't home often during the week. He ran routes from Miami to Jacksonville. I thought he was home for some big surprise. As I ran into the house, my mother sat there with sadness in her eyes. There was a weird, worried, fearful feeling in the room. I ran to my father and he began to ask me the usual questions how was your day? What did you learn? How was school? I knew at that moment there was something different. 

I asked my father, Why are you home? What's the surprise? At eleven years old, you can be so naive. My father told me he had a mandatory doctor's appointment that he couldn't miss. Typically the only time my family went to the doctor or if they were severely ill. My father went on to tell me that he had been diagnosed that day with stage three pancreatic cancer at the young age of eleven. I didn't quite understand what cancer was. I mean, I knew it was an illness, but I didn't understand its power.

 Over the next year and a half, my life would take a drastic turn for the worse as my afternoons consisted of giving my father insulin shots, checking his blood sugar levels, cleaning, cooking, and becoming a young adult. At, uh, just eleven years old, I began to miss a lot of school and my mother picked up a second job at the local family Dollar to make ends meet. It was, to this day, one of the hardest times of my life. My father, Paul David Kennedy, lost his battle with cancer on June 18, 1999, on Father's Day. 

I don't tell you this for sympathy, but I tell you this to share with you where my mission started. I'm sure there were other attributes that contributed to the death of my dad. But I know, I know if my dad would have cared as much about his health as he did his cars and his clothes and all the other materialistic things, his life would have been prolonged. Throughout the family tree, history repeats itself as I watched my brother Jeffrey Kennedy pass away from a heart attack at the young age of 52. He was a local car salesman who worked 70 hours a week. 

He had the beautiful house, the lavish cars, the ATVs, and decades of hard work under his belt. And when it came time to retire, to enjoy it all, he never got the opportunity to. After watching my family suffer from so many health-related illnesses, I knew I had to make a change for my family and for my future. I knew I had to break the cycle.

We see so many adults falling short of their true potential to live a life full of longevity and prosperity. We watch as they buy their expensive clothes and beautiful homes and fancy cars, yet invest nothing into their most promising asset their body. The human body is one of the most adverse and dynamic mechanisms ever created. Its intricate workings between the eleven organ systems and trillions of cells are all a part of what keep us functioning daily. If we do not take care of those cells, those organs, and those systems, we begin to have health problems like cancer and diabetes, and, well, heart disease, just to name a few. 

In my profession, I get the question all the time why is it so expensive to eat healthily? My response having a heart attack is expensive. Chemotherapy is expensive. Wait till you get the bill for not being healthy. That's expensive. By a show of hands in the room, how many of you change your oil, service your cars, and shine your tires? Ladies or gentlemen, by a show of hands, how many of you get a pedicure, get your nails done, or get your hair done? Gentlemen, you can talk up to how many of you can honestly say you spend more time, money, and effort preserving your self-image than you do your health? I have watched our society fill their cars with the most expensive oils and best gases and then drive those vehicles straight through the dollar menu as if what is manifested on the outside is worth more than the vessel that carries your soul. 

I know this may sound silly, but I know you only get one opportunity. One chance and one voice to change the world as Martin Luther King, Jr. Had a dream to save the world from racism. I have a dream to save the world from obesity. I have a dream that one day our children will be free of sickness and illness. I have a dream that one day our clinics will no longer be full of unhealthy people, but instead, our parks will be full of people living a healthy, active lifestyle.

 I have a dream that one day, uh, our community will thrive and be able to educate communities around us on better ways to make healthier choices. See, I can't do this alone. It starts with you, you, and even you and me. Uh, it starts with all of us making a conscious decision to take care of what matters most. Let's make the decision to educate our children to choose the apple over the cookie. Let's make the decision to enhance our eating choices at the grocery store or at the restaurant. 

Let's make the decision to enjoy cooking at home as a family. Perhaps you start a Crock Pot before you leave the house. Preparation is key to success in all areas of life. And right now, we need to be prepared more than ever. I am so grateful that I had those experiences as a young adult with my father and my brother. I know in my heart that all of those things I went through as a young child have brought me to this moment, this point here with all of you. You see, no matter what time tick talk, um, tick talk, time is going to pass. 

It's up to you to say, I am done making excuses. It's up to you to say, I am worthy of more. It's up to you to make the decision to just choose smarter eating choices. Smarter eating choices. The time is now. There's never been a better time. I mean, let's be honest. How many of you in here aren't feeling your best on a daily basis? You can change that. We can change that. Imagine the impact we could have for generations to come. Think, uh, about your grandchildren and their grandchildren. 

What kind of culture, what kind of future is going to be left for them? I pray that your daughter gets the chance to walk down the aisle with her father because I won't get that chance. And I pray that she'll be able to go to the Daddy Water Dance because I never did. I know together we can make the world a healthier and happier place to live for generations to come. And I know together we can break the cycle. Thank.

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                health and wellness