Hope is not a plan
Myriams-Fotos / Pixabay

Henrietta Lange said that “Hope is not a plan.” on the television show NCIS. That phrase stuck with me. It applied to one the missions they were conducting at the time. But, for many of us, hope is our plan.

We hope that we will live a long and healthy life. Most of us want that. We don’t want to be a burden on our kids and grandkids. It seems that between the ages of 45 and 65 years of age there is a shift in our focus. We concentrate on our kids until they are grown up and out of the house. Then our attention goes to our parents. This happens generally in that range of 45-65 years of age for most of us.

If our parents are having health problems, we don’t want to be in that same boat when we reach their age. My parents were very active in their early 80’s. My father succumbed to cancer at 84 and my mother had many complications and passed on at nearly 90 years of age. I would accept their health in their early 80’s. But, what happened so quickly to them?

Our bodies continue to decay every year with age. We are either growing or decaying. There is no middle ground. To continue growing (younger) it takes a lot of effort and knowledge. The clear majority of us do not know what to do to counter the effects of aging. We have never been taught.

There are a couple of causes of aging and the accelerators of aging can be tackled easily. Knowledge is part of the equation but action the other. We might know and hope for the best. Many of us have seen that syndrome before. But, like the philosophy of kaizen (continuous quality improvement) in businesses, we hope, rather than take daily action.

Health problems cannot be corrected with hope. I know there is a spiritual connection to improving health. Some studies indicate as much as 30% of the time a placebo is effective. I am not saying that spiritual help is a placebo, but the result is similar. We are hoping (praying) for relief. But, many times we don’t connect deeply enough to make that bond with the healing abilities of our bodies.

If you find yourself hoping to get better, you might not have an effective plan.

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