My job is essentially a sales position. Everyday, I am selling health and wellness to as many people as possible. But this isn’t a one time transaction, people typically don’t buy into a healthy lifestyle in just one day. First, it can take weeks, months, maybe even years for an individual to decide to make healthy lifestyle changes (some may never even get past this step). From there, it can take months to replace bad habits with good ones, learn strategies to live a healthy lifestyle, and then actually APPLY what you learn. It’s no wonder that there is such a large market for quick fix weight loss formulas.

Now it sounds like its more effort than it’s worth, right? Wrong.

Answer me this, when you hear about the amount of effort this healthy lifestyle requires, why do you believe that it’s not worth the effort? (And I really do want your answers!) Why don’t you believe that your health and well-being are precious enough to invest time into? If you can’t find an answer to that question, maybe you can answer this one:

Tough one. I believe that we are programmed to put ourselves last on the list of priorities. Society tells us that we aren’t good enough, glamourizes impossible standards and basically cements the idea that we will never be good enough. So we shrug, throw in the towel and focus on taking care of other people in our lives, our jobs, our pets, other hobbies that take our minds off it.

But let me make something as clear as I can make it: you are human just like the next person. There is nothing inherent about you that makes your life less worthy than someone else. Being born with different features, lower metabolism, more baby fat, taller, shorter, wider, skinnier, black, white, brown or otherwise, does not make your life less valuable. I have seen people turn a life around (mentally and physically) and believe me when I tell you that the most attractive thing about them is their happiness, how content and peaceful they are with who they are, not what some people think they should be. The simple truth is that scientifically, there are certain things that make you either healthy or unhealthy. You can choose to live in a healthier lifestyle with healthy eating, regular exercise, healthy mental habits, surrounding yourself with loved ones and spreading your blessings around.

Don’t let anything make you think that a different lifestyle isn’t for you. Health is for everyone.

You were given one life to live: cherish it, value it and above all, find joy in it!