How many times have you looked back and wished you made a different decision? When it comes to health, these reflections usually appear after something bad has happened.
“I wish I had taken the time to warm up and stretch my calves before I ruptured my Achilles in that pickleball match.”
“I wish I had done more dry land training to strengthen my knees before I tore my ACL skiing.”
“I wish I had rolled my feet before my plantar fasciitis progressed.”
“I wish I had trusted my gut and looked into that thing that was bothering me versus brushing it off as nothing.”
“I wish I had changed my diet before I developed diabetes.”
“I wish I had cared more about how my workouts impacted my ability to live without joint pain vs. being so concerned about calories burned.”
“I wish I had nourished my body vs. depleting it.”
The purpose of looking back isn’t to beat yourself up about the coulda/shoulda/woulda. It’s to learn from the past and make decisions going forward that will increase your chances for a better outcome.
Is hindsight “too late”? Sometimes it is. You can’t undo the pain of degenerated discs from excessive wear and tear. You can’t un-rupture your Achilles or magically make your cancer or diabetes go away with a snap of a finger. You can’t regenerate lost bone density. You can’t get back the time or life experiences you lost due to surgeries, rehab or illness. And you certainly can’t bring back lives lost by drunk driving or speeding down the highway.
While we can’t change the past, we can learn from it and make different decisions going forward. I’ve witnessed the incredible impact that hindsight has made on foresight. I’ve seen friends, family and clients shift their mindset and behaviors to adopt a more prevention based approach to health. Sometimes it’s as simple as incorporating rolling or investing in prehab programs to cross-train for tennis, golf, skiing and running. Other times it’s changing your diet to reverse your Type II diabetes or fatty liver disease.
Big or small, serious or mild, short-term or long-term, we all have agency when it comes to our future. Even those faced with the super shitty circumstances that have nothing to do with lifestyle and everything to do with bad luck have some ability to choose how they approach their situation.
In my case, I had to experience painful injuries from running and overtraining to rethink my approach exercise. I had to be scared by the reality of a joint replacement to actually make a change.
I had to experience gut pain to evaluate my nutrition. I had to be doubled over for the better part of a decade to make a change.
I had to watch friends and family get injured from boot classes, marathons, CrossFit, competitive sports, hot yoga and power Pilates to know that a better solution was needed. I had to experience the life-giving benefits in my own body before sharing Alkalign with others.
Alkalign was born out of hindsight and is propelled forward by foresight. While you can’t live life wrapped in a bubble, accelerating your body into a brick wall also isn’t a sustainable approach.
I gave up the ego-driven marathons and competitive “win at all cost” sports. I developed Alkalign to provide the balance and gentle consistency I need to improve not just my lifespan, but my healthspan.
Consider what is most important in your life and invest in the path that will get you to your preferred destination. It’s not too late to make a change until it’s too late.
If you find Alkalign is part of your path, buy a membership now.
