Investing in your Health
Why Investing in Your Health Is the Most Important Commitment You'll Ever Make
This past month I’ve been spending a lot of time contemplating health. Visiting a loved one in the hospital has a way of making you think differently about the value of being healthy. It was strange really, health is an integral part of my day to day existence in so many ways and yet, somehow, sitting in a hospital room talking with my dad as he was receiving care made me feel something more deeply than I have in the recent past.
Health is the foundation. Not the goal. Not the reward. The foundation.
It’s the thing that allows us to do everything else — work, play, care for others, pursue dreams, enjoy small pleasures, and engage with our community. Without it, everything becomes harder. And yet, too often, we treat health as optional — something to "get to later" when things calm down or the to-do list shortens. I hear people write off their state of health as something that is inevitable or out of their control as though they should just succumb to a diagnosis or an injury.
I don’t say that from a place of judgment — I say it with compassion and concern, because life is busy and messy, and it’s easy to put ourselves last. I do it to myself too often.
But here's the truth:
We always pay for our health — reactively through medications, missed opportunities, pain, and hospital stays or proactively through movement, nourishing food, rest, and stress care… The difference is, the proactive route gives us more choices, more joy, and more years doing the things we love. I imagine my dad wasn’t the only one lying in that hospital wondering if there was something he could have done differently, some choice he could have made that would have kept him at home instead of in that bed.
Investing in your health doesn’t mean you have to overhaul your entire life overnight. It can start with small, consistent decisions:
Taking a 20-minute walk each day
Strengthening your body to prevent injury and maintain independence
Fueling yourself with real food most of the time
Seeing movement not as punishment, but as a celebration of what your body can do
Checking in with professionals before something goes wrong
Your future self will thank you. Your family will thank you.
This experience reminded me why I do what I do — and why I believe in what we offer at Connect. It’s not about chasing perfection. It’s about creating the capacity to live well.
So if you've been waiting for the “right time” to prioritize your health, let this be your sign:
The right time is now.