We have not addressed the fundamental factors that contributed to the development of pandemics, including poverty and lack of access to resources, urbanization and the destruction of natural habitats, healthcare worker shortages, and increased contact between humans and animals. In fact, we could make the argument that all of these factors have only worsened since the pandemic.
The current strategy seems to be to create policies to coordinate the responses of many countries in a pandemic. There can certainly be a benefit to high quality, shared communication among countries, but we also learn a lot by seeing how different countries might respond to a pandemic. If everyone responds similarly or in the same way, we have less opportunity to learn and almost no leeway to unintentionally get something wrong.
But there is something you can do to take action where Healthcare and Public Health did not and still is not: Attend to Nutrition, Movement, Connection, and Rest in your daily life to improve your health, resilience, and insight. It was clear to any clinician working during the pandemic that morbidity and mortality disproportionately affected those who had underlying medical problems, including the elderly. Yet today, there is still no widespread campaign to teach the fundamentals of health and healing that can reverse many chronic diseases.
The best part is that you have power. You and all of us can play offense rather than having to always play defense, which creates fear.
This is not just about pandemics, although it took one to give us a chance to focus on the real issues. This is simply about the rest of your life and your family's life, the quality of your daily experience, the insight and clarity in your life, and what is possible.
Health is political. Health is power. Take back your power.
Here's how:
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