This week I have a cardiac MRI. I've just had dental work to protect my heart. And in December I'll have surgery for a melanoma.
That melanoma simply looked like a freckle to me. My skin cancer doctor knew better, so we're catching it early.
I'm not telling you this for sympathy. I'm telling you because somewhere between all these appointments, something occurred to me that I want to say out loud: looking after our health isn't only a private matter. We have a responsibility to the people around us.
The people in your circle
We tend to think of a doctor's appointment as something we do for ourselves. So it's the first thing to go. The children come first, the clients come first, the deadline comes first, and our own health waits at the back of the line.
But think about who is standing in your circle. Your partner. Your children, however old they are. The parent who relies on you. The team who look to you. The friend who calls you first when things fall apart.
Your health is part of what holds all of that up. When you take care of it, you aren't being selfish. You're protecting everyone who would have to carry what happens if you don't.
Why I take this so seriously
I had cancer at 32. It would have killed me had I not been on top of things.
I also have a client who was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer at the age of 20. Twenty. I think about that whenever someone tells me they're too young to worry.
None of us gets to control everything that happens to our bodies. Some illnesses arrive however careful we are. But we can control whether we show up, whether we get things checked, and whether we let someone who knows more than we do take a look.
That freckle is a good example. With melanoma, the American Cancer Society reports a five-year relative survival rate of more than 99% when it's found while still localized, and 36% once it has spread to distant parts of the body. Those are population figures, not a prediction for any one person. But they show why timing matters so much.
I could not have seen what my doctor saw. That's exactly why I went.
One small act of love
So here is what I'd like you to do this week. Think of the appointment you've been putting off. The physical. The skin check. The dentist. The mammogram or the colonoscopy. The thing you noticed months ago and decided to keep an eye on.
Book it. Not for you, if that's too hard to do right now. Do it for the people in your circle, and let it be one small act of love.
Next week, I'll write about what really keeps us away, because I don't think it's always how busy we are.
Whatever brings you here, there is a way through.
Jill Lien is a Board Certified Clinical Hypnotist and ICBCH Certified Instructor. She doesn't give medical advice, so please take any health concerns to your own doctor.
Want more like this? Get The Weekly Edge in your inbox.