"Health Care is a Human Right"

Lately I have been told that "health care is a human right". The message is everywhere. You'll find it on bumper stickers even now. And in a way, I completely agree. But not in their way.

When I think of health care as a human right, I think of it this way - that we should have the right to take care of our health. And who would disagree?

But that's not what I'm getting from those around me. It seems that's not their message. Their message is that we have a right to have someone/something else take care of our health. Should this be a right? If it is, should it really be granted to everyone, all the time? Or even most of the time?

We ALREADY have the right to take care of ourselves. Take advantage of THAT right before you ask for any new ones. More than half of us are overweight. Most of us know better. And yet we CHOOSE to be that way. We've convinced yourself that you don't have time to exercise. We DO. We just CHOOSE to watch television instead. We say you can't afford a gym membership. We don't NEED a gym membership. Lifting heavy things and moving your body around isn't rocket science. We listen to your taste buds instead of your brain. Is that really how we ought to approach feeding the one body that we'll ever get?

Every day you make choices about whether you are going to exercise, how many hours of sleep you'll allow yourself, and what food (and how much of it) you'll put into your body. If you're a woman, and you go to a restaurant and order the same as your man - do you think it's a wise idea to eat the same amount as him? A full grown man is overeating if he finishes a meal at 90 percent of the restaurants in the U.S. That's a full grown man. If he is thinking about his health he'll eat maybe two thirds of what's on his plate. You should be eating even less. How much do you eat? Perhaps you say to yourself "well... it's a special occasion and it's OK to splurge every once in a while...". Ask yourself - should you allow yourself to consider overeating to be a proper way to celebrate? Is it really every once in a while? Can you honeslty afford to splurge?

Would you like to complain to me about your slow metabolism even though you can fix it easily by adding muscle to your body (that's what "toning up" really is) and changing your diet?

There is one health care provider that will be with you until the day you die - whether you like it or not. Yourself. Use it.