The last time I wrote about health care, a friend challenged me to write beyond the “horror” stories. Why not write about what we can do to make it better?
Great idea. But the main reason I write about my experiences with the health care system is because there isn’t much that any individual can do beyond sharing our stories. The system is too large, too entrenched, and too interwoven into our jobs, our political system, and almost every aspect of our lives for one person to make much difference. Writing is something that I can do.
So, I thought about it some more. What can we do about our failing health care system? Not much, but I did think of a few things.
1. Write letters to those who can do something. I know—no one wants to hear this one. Even fewer want to do it. Wait, fewer than ‘no one’? Wouldn’t that be a negative number? Well, while that may not be possible literally, it certainly is possible figuratively! Most people would rather have a dose of hives than deal with politics. Unfortunately, when you are talking about large issues like health care, politics is THE tool to use.
So, write a letter. Write a lot of letters. And don’t send emails or those internet petitions. The best bang for your buck is a phone call. Phone calls hold the most weight in political circles. Snail mail is next. Emails don’t count for much. Writing to your representatives is very easy these days; just get on line and go to www.votesmart.org and plug in your zip code, and all of your reps will pop up with all of their contact information.
The other place where letter writing can have a big impact is letters to the editor. If you follow a daily or weekly newspaper and you see a piece on health care, write a letter. You can reach thousands of people, including your representatives this way.
2. Educate yourself on the subject. In part, this is so you can write educated letters to those who can do something (see above). Making sure your representatives receive a ton of letters on the subject is helpful, but what makes a bigger impression is the number of knowledgeable letters received. However, there are more reasons to educate yourself. The more you know, the more you can share with others because it will come up. I am sure you can remember times when the topic has popped up—in conversations at work, at home, at church, when out with friends….
Easy to say, but where do you start with such a large, complicated issue? Find a source you trust. What organizations do you belong to or admire? See what they have to say. Go ahead and search the internet, but make sure to take the source into account. Another place to start is with the biggest political parties: Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent—see what they have to say. Same goes for the large think tanks, such as The Heritage Foundation (conservative) and Rockridge Institute (liberal).
3. Refuse to buy substandard health insurance. Jewel has a great lyric that fits here: “No longer lend your strength to that which you wish to be free from.” If we don’t want the system that we have, then we should stop lending it our strength—we should stop giving it our money. I am not talking about good basic insurance here. I am talking about paying hundreds of dollars a month for a $1,000-$5,000 deductible—disaster insurance. This sort of insurance plays on our fears, and it gets us to pay them for nothing.
Oh sure, they will pay if we get a catastrophic illness or injury, but how often does that happen? Most of us do not end up with some huge medical problem. Most of us have little things like ear infections and in-grown toenails, or moderate things like a sprained ankle or broken finger. My personal opinion is that buying crap like this just feeds the monster that we want to slay. It is like sacrificing virgins to a mythical dragon; we sacrifice our hard earned cash to the fear of what might possibly happen and in the meantime lose what may be right now.
4. Be proactive about your own health care. Prevention is huge. The more healthy you are, the less you will have to deal with our broken system, and the less damage it will cause you directly. This begins with developing a general understanding of how your body works and the things you can do to keep it working well. Being proactive about your health care includes your whole being: physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Our bodies, minds, hearts, and souls all interrelate and each affects the other, so all have to be well tended in order for the whole to grow strong and healthy.
Body: Our bodies need regular, consistent exercise in order to stay in good running order. This is different for different people. Running works well for my mom, but it just gives me an asthma attack. You have to find the exercise that fits your particular body and soul. I say it has to fit your soul because if you do not enjoy it, if you do not feel drawn to it, you will not do it. The key is not really in the type of exercise, but in what fits you. Some great forms of exercise are biking, yoga, dancing, tai chi, martial arts, walking, nia, hacky sacking, swimming, and good old fashioned calisthenics.
Mind: Our minds need regular, consistent exercise in order to stay in good running order. This is especially true for those of us who gorge on TV in the evenings, which is like eating half a gallon of ice cream every evening and then never exercising. Our minds get fat and flabby if we feed them nothing but TV. This is true even of “good” TV like educational program because it is still only flexing one type of mental muscle. We need to flex our other mental muscles—mathematical, reading, problem solving, analytical, creativity, intuition, humor, writing, and logic. Some great forms of mental exercise are cross word puzzles, journal writing, puzzles like the Rubik’s cube, visualization exercises, scrap-booking, reading, joining a debate club (or just arguing with talk radio alone in your car…), jewelry making, sudoko, and photography. Try out Text Twist, a free on-line video game, or for great numbers puzzles, check out the National Library of Virtual Manipulatives.
Heart: Our emotions directly impact our health. Stress can tear our bodies down and leave us vulnerable to illness. Cutting our emotions off from our bodies and our souls impacts our relationships, which, in turn, impacts our physical health. Libraries and book stores are full of self help books. Self help takes a lot of hits, and much of it is deserved. Taking ourselves too seriously is just as much a problem as not taking ourselves seriously enough. How do we find balance so we can keep this aspect of ourselves healthy?
It is different for each person. There are lots of options and each of us is responsible for researching this for ourselves. Some paths include counseling or therapy, and there are many, many different types, each with their own pros and cons.. A great place to start is with your brain, where much of the emotional biochemistry takes place. Check out the book Change Your Brain, Change Your Life by Dr. Amen.
Soul: What inspires passion in you? What makes you laugh? What makes you get out of bed in the morning? Our souls need tending as well as our bodies in order for the whole to be healthy. As there are many different paths for the heart, so there are many different paths for the soul. We each have to explore and find the path that works for us. All that is really important is that we find something that inspires us, something that feeds the ‘self’ beyond our minds and bodies. This can be difficult in a culture that asks us to focus only on monetary gain, a culture that fosters and feeds on fear. A great book to start with is The Soul of Money by Lynne Twist.
5. Don’t go it alone. Join a group that is working on this issue. Individualism is a great idea but it is highly over-rated here in the U.S. One person can not hope to have the impact that a whole group of people can. Not only do groups have more impact, but they are also a way for us to defeat the depression and apathy that comes from isolation.
Will these things change the world? Probably not in any large or quick way. They will make a difference for us as individuals, though. And our little bit will help the whole. You know the rubber tree ant song? Well, it’s true—our collective efforts will add up to larger change. We just have to keep working and hoping.
Great idea. But the main reason I write about my experiences with the health care system is because there isn’t much that any individual can do beyond sharing our stories. The system is too large, too entrenched, and too interwoven into our jobs, our political system, and almost every aspect of our lives for one person to make much difference. Writing is something that I can do.
So, I thought about it some more. What can we do about our failing health care system? Not much, but I did think of a few things.
1. Write letters to those who can do something. I know—no one wants to hear this one. Even fewer want to do it. Wait, fewer than ‘no one’? Wouldn’t that be a negative number? Well, while that may not be possible literally, it certainly is possible figuratively! Most people would rather have a dose of hives than deal with politics. Unfortunately, when you are talking about large issues like health care, politics is THE tool to use.
So, write a letter. Write a lot of letters. And don’t send emails or those internet petitions. The best bang for your buck is a phone call. Phone calls hold the most weight in political circles. Snail mail is next. Emails don’t count for much. Writing to your representatives is very easy these days; just get on line and go to www.votesmart.org and plug in your zip code, and all of your reps will pop up with all of their contact information.
The other place where letter writing can have a big impact is letters to the editor. If you follow a daily or weekly newspaper and you see a piece on health care, write a letter. You can reach thousands of people, including your representatives this way.
2. Educate yourself on the subject. In part, this is so you can write educated letters to those who can do something (see above). Making sure your representatives receive a ton of letters on the subject is helpful, but what makes a bigger impression is the number of knowledgeable letters received. However, there are more reasons to educate yourself. The more you know, the more you can share with others because it will come up. I am sure you can remember times when the topic has popped up—in conversations at work, at home, at church, when out with friends….
Easy to say, but where do you start with such a large, complicated issue? Find a source you trust. What organizations do you belong to or admire? See what they have to say. Go ahead and search the internet, but make sure to take the source into account. Another place to start is with the biggest political parties: Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent—see what they have to say. Same goes for the large think tanks, such as The Heritage Foundation (conservative) and Rockridge Institute (liberal).
3. Refuse to buy substandard health insurance. Jewel has a great lyric that fits here: “No longer lend your strength to that which you wish to be free from.” If we don’t want the system that we have, then we should stop lending it our strength—we should stop giving it our money. I am not talking about good basic insurance here. I am talking about paying hundreds of dollars a month for a $1,000-$5,000 deductible—disaster insurance. This sort of insurance plays on our fears, and it gets us to pay them for nothing.
Oh sure, they will pay if we get a catastrophic illness or injury, but how often does that happen? Most of us do not end up with some huge medical problem. Most of us have little things like ear infections and in-grown toenails, or moderate things like a sprained ankle or broken finger. My personal opinion is that buying crap like this just feeds the monster that we want to slay. It is like sacrificing virgins to a mythical dragon; we sacrifice our hard earned cash to the fear of what might possibly happen and in the meantime lose what may be right now.
4. Be proactive about your own health care. Prevention is huge. The more healthy you are, the less you will have to deal with our broken system, and the less damage it will cause you directly. This begins with developing a general understanding of how your body works and the things you can do to keep it working well. Being proactive about your health care includes your whole being: physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Our bodies, minds, hearts, and souls all interrelate and each affects the other, so all have to be well tended in order for the whole to grow strong and healthy.
Body: Our bodies need regular, consistent exercise in order to stay in good running order. This is different for different people. Running works well for my mom, but it just gives me an asthma attack. You have to find the exercise that fits your particular body and soul. I say it has to fit your soul because if you do not enjoy it, if you do not feel drawn to it, you will not do it. The key is not really in the type of exercise, but in what fits you. Some great forms of exercise are biking, yoga, dancing, tai chi, martial arts, walking, nia, hacky sacking, swimming, and good old fashioned calisthenics.
Mind: Our minds need regular, consistent exercise in order to stay in good running order. This is especially true for those of us who gorge on TV in the evenings, which is like eating half a gallon of ice cream every evening and then never exercising. Our minds get fat and flabby if we feed them nothing but TV. This is true even of “good” TV like educational program because it is still only flexing one type of mental muscle. We need to flex our other mental muscles—mathematical, reading, problem solving, analytical, creativity, intuition, humor, writing, and logic. Some great forms of mental exercise are cross word puzzles, journal writing, puzzles like the Rubik’s cube, visualization exercises, scrap-booking, reading, joining a debate club (or just arguing with talk radio alone in your car…), jewelry making, sudoko, and photography. Try out Text Twist, a free on-line video game, or for great numbers puzzles, check out the National Library of Virtual Manipulatives.
Heart: Our emotions directly impact our health. Stress can tear our bodies down and leave us vulnerable to illness. Cutting our emotions off from our bodies and our souls impacts our relationships, which, in turn, impacts our physical health. Libraries and book stores are full of self help books. Self help takes a lot of hits, and much of it is deserved. Taking ourselves too seriously is just as much a problem as not taking ourselves seriously enough. How do we find balance so we can keep this aspect of ourselves healthy?
It is different for each person. There are lots of options and each of us is responsible for researching this for ourselves. Some paths include counseling or therapy, and there are many, many different types, each with their own pros and cons.. A great place to start is with your brain, where much of the emotional biochemistry takes place. Check out the book Change Your Brain, Change Your Life by Dr. Amen.
Soul: What inspires passion in you? What makes you laugh? What makes you get out of bed in the morning? Our souls need tending as well as our bodies in order for the whole to be healthy. As there are many different paths for the heart, so there are many different paths for the soul. We each have to explore and find the path that works for us. All that is really important is that we find something that inspires us, something that feeds the ‘self’ beyond our minds and bodies. This can be difficult in a culture that asks us to focus only on monetary gain, a culture that fosters and feeds on fear. A great book to start with is The Soul of Money by Lynne Twist.
5. Don’t go it alone. Join a group that is working on this issue. Individualism is a great idea but it is highly over-rated here in the U.S. One person can not hope to have the impact that a whole group of people can. Not only do groups have more impact, but they are also a way for us to defeat the depression and apathy that comes from isolation.
Will these things change the world? Probably not in any large or quick way. They will make a difference for us as individuals, though. And our little bit will help the whole. You know the rubber tree ant song? Well, it’s true—our collective efforts will add up to larger change. We just have to keep working and hoping.
