To Inspire:

We talk so much today about the importance of mental and physical health but how can we convince ourselves to take these things seriously? I recently read the following story from the Warren Buffett biography The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life, and it has stuck with me:

Let’s say that when I turned sixteen, a genie had appeared to me. And that genie said, “Warren, I’m going to give you the car of your choice. It’ll be here tomorrow morning with a big bow tied on it. Brand-new. And it’s all yours.”

Having heard all the genie stories, I would say, “What’s the catch?” And the genie would answer, “There’s only one catch. This is the last car you’re ever going to get in your life. So, it’s got to last a lifetime.”

If that had happened, I would have picked out that car. But, can you imagine, knowing it had to last a lifetime, what I would do with it?

I would read the manual about five times. I would always keep it garaged. If there was the least little dent or scratch, I’d have it fixed right away because I wouldn’t want it rusting. I would baby that car because it would have to last a lifetime.

That’s exactly the position you are in concerning your mind and body. You only get one mind and one body. And it’s got to last a lifetime. Now, it’s very easy to let them ride for many years. But if you don’t take care of that mind and that body, they’ll be a wreck forty years later, just like the car would be.

It’s what you do right now, today, that determines how your mind and body will operate ten, twenty, and thirty years from now.

Just think about that. We get one mind and one body. One life. How do a better job taking care of these crucial assets?

Commit to self-improvement: Ask yourself what you would like to achieve in your health? What do you need to change to make that happen?

Commit to self-care: exercise, meditation, mindfulness.

Treat yourself like that one car you’re going to keep forever, because you ARE that one mind and body and soul. Commit to making improvements, starting right now. Buffett’s message is clear: Today’s choices reverberate in the years to come. Start making the choices and doing the work to be healthy and happy throughout your great life.

Written by Michelle O’Brien, Manager of Marketing & Communications