EDITORIAL: The choice to live

The definition of ‘life’ in itself almost seems to be a bit of a paradox for it cannot exist without death. In fact a famous quote holds that life is from B to D – birth to death. What is interesting to note is the between those two letters is the letter C – Choice. 

 

Life becomes a matter of choice! 

 

Our choice should be to embrace life. In recent times a few Barbadians have collapsed and died on the spot. We are left to ponder on life and how it could be so fleeting. Considering we have no idea if the same may happen to us we can try to mitigate our circumstances.

Recently acting Chief Medical Officer Dr. Kenneth George outlined that according to autopsy reports these deaths were the result of ‘non communicable diseases which were either poorly controlled, undiagnosed or untreated’.

 

Dr. George urged the Barbadian public to take better control of their health by ensuring they have “regular medical check-ups as well as practice healthy lifestyle behaviors.”

 

What is interesting to note is that this is not a new issue. In April 2015 a United Nations Task Force was set up to tackle this very problem. Urgent action was needed to respond to the epidemic of premature deaths from noncommunicable diseases in Barbados. The United Nations embarked on a week-long mission to the island seeking answers to “protect the health of the nations, protect national development and sustain economic growth.” The mission highlighted the main risk factors for non-communicable diseases in Barbados as unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, tobacco use and the harmful use of alcohol. What was also noteworthy was also the heavy reliance on motorized transportation, increasing disposable income and sedentary lifestyles also contributed.

 

This brings us back to choice. We bear the responsibility for our own health. We may be unable to do anything about random acts that threaten our lives, but what we can do is become the captain of our own ships. Embrace life and by doing that realize that this includes a lifestyle change. We need to abandon the readily available fast food outlets and instead chose quality organic fruits and vegetables. True, these things may be slightly more expensive but look at what is at stake – our life! Wouldn’t you rather spend the extra dollar on quality food if it meant it could contribute to your longevity?

 

For some things we have no choice but for others we do. Neither of us knows how long we have left on this rock but the choice to mitigate against our circumstances is up to us. Yes the choice is ours – do we change our lifestyle, improve our health and give ourselves a fighting chance or do we ignore the choice to do such and live life randomly and recklessly not knowing when our bodies will give up on us. Take heed Barbados, the time for change is now!