Early Detection

A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step.
-Confucious

The most important thing we can do to improve our lives is to get started on a better path.

The concept of "early detection" is common in the medical realm but it is rarely applied to peoples emotional lives. It means that we take responsibility for our own health by closely monitoring ourselves.

If we use the concept of early detection to monitor our emotional lives, what would we be looking for to indicate that we might benefit from assistance?

The symptoms of emotional issues are numerous and varied. They can be physical (headaches, stomach problems, etc.) or emotional (worry, sadness, irritability, etc.). What they have in common is that they are distressing to us. They get in the way of our enjoyment of life; they occupy our thoughts when we try to forget them.

The age-old tradition of enduring emotional distress is largely based on the fact that there was nothing else to be done in the past. Now that we have services to assist us, our expectations for ourselves have yet to catch up.

The irony is that oftentimes we are the only one in the way of living a better life. Our beliefs that we should be able to handle things alone, or that we should be able to tolerate more distress, hold us back and keep us from moving forward.

Our pride or fear shouldn't keep us from going to see our Physician if we have physical pain. We also go to the Dentist or Optometrist for check-ups to find problems early. We expect to do these things to care for ourselves.

Yet our ability to enjoy our lives by maintaining our emotional health is often neglected. If we work to maintain good physical health, we have to consider that our good emotional health is equally important and deserves that same effort.

Live Well.