Immune Boosting - Why Start?

With an aggressive health care industry, pharmaceuticals for every symptom, why bother boosting your immune system? Isn't it easier just to pop a pill, take an energy drink?

For me, no. Easier may bring immediate ease of burden/symptom, but with long term implications and dire consequences. I desired to find long-term solutions... and discovered immune boosting an effective tool for overall life enhancement. The reasons I pursued strengthening my immune system are many. But, I can condense them; my top five are:

1. Increase energy.
2. Time management.
3. Live Longer
4. Live a life worth living, not being sick all of the time.
5. Honor your Creator.

Let's look a little closer at my top reasons for boosting my immune system. What launched the pursuit of strengthening my immune system was lack of energy. I am a wife, mother of five, business owner, and love to travel and entertain. Just merely hearing the brief synopsis of my lifestyle can exhaust some people. LOL. My five children currently are eleven, eight, five, four and two years of age. Four of my five are boys -- and are FULL, no, bursting at the seams with energy. Caring for a person with high energy expenditure actually requires energy -- multiply that necessity by four. I found myself too tired to play with my kids. Parenting is not a spectator sport... or at least not in my book. I did not live through 45 months of pregnancy, and 60 plus months of lactating to merely observe my children. No. My husband and I planned to have children because we wanted to enjoy family life. That, dear friend, requires energy, and lots of it. (Since writing this hub, we have had our sixth child - even more motivation.)

Additionally, I needed energy for brain power. I am a media and community relations specialist with emphasis in digital application. Come again? We offer web design, web hosting, search engine optimization, copywriting, graphic design, full color printing, advertising campaigns, etc. We assist entities with public/community relations, whether the client's need is a one-time logo design, web design, or full gammet of concept to completion of a marketing plan and its implementation. And that requires brain power. I had found myself becoming tongue tied when discussing options with clients. And that is not good.

I was too tired to be a wife, mother, business owener, home maker, much less to travel or entertain! I was too tired even to be entertained. I fell asleep the moment I was still longer than 15 minutes -- I was, to put it mildly, exhausted. Something had to give, because I was "given out", fully expended, kapoot.

For more information on fatigue, please read "Why Am I Always So Tired" after finishing this hub.

Number two on my list was making the most of my time. Too much of my time was being wasted in effort to feel better - napping, resting, drooling (LOL). Also, I was not thinking effectively. Simple tasks became overwhelming. For example, I knew I had breakfast to make, kids to dress, laundry to wash, dry and fold, projects to tackle, groceries to buy,etc. My lack of energy made these tasks seem ever-so-daunting, quickly overwhelming me with a sense of futility, and paralyzing me. I literally was not functioning. I would think about what I needed to do, feel like I did not have the energy, and forfeited my day to defeat and gloom. I trudged through the days, attempting to check off my mental agenda. Tasks necessitating only fifteen minutes often took hours because I was so scatter-brained. Now that my energy is back, I accomplish more in the first two hours of my day than I had completed in a day.

Having had five children, and nursed all of them for an average of 20 months - to strengthen their immune systems, mind you - took a lot from my body. My body was depleted on many levels. My body was showing symptoms of life-threatening disease, candida was attacking many systems - hospitalizing me for three days at one point with dual-dual ear infections (fungal & bacterial in both ears). [That experience really increased my sypmathy for children with chronic ear infections. I had natural labor with all five of my children... but this ear infection made tears stream down my face, which was puffy and swollen from the ear infection .] Without listing every detail, I'll simply say I did not think the direction my body was heading was one of longivity. Something had to change. Quickly. I desired to see my children grow, graduate, marry, start careers and families, etc. I wanted to live longer than what my bodily symptoms were forecasting.

I remember watching a 1960s movie (I think it's from that circa) about a scientist who schemed a way to live forever. However, the genius did not consider quality of life in his planning. The movie ended with a brain enclosed in glass attached to all kinds of life sustaining paraphernalia - wires, tubes, etc. However, the brain had no form of expression other than to speak. No arms, no legs. All of the vital organs were contained similarily to the brain. The good doctor was alive, and had designed a way to communicate and form words digitally, but that's it. A life of torture ensued. An eternal life, mind you. My point? Why live a long time if you cannot enjoy living?

Why live long if you don't have the energy or physical strength to do anything? I know people in their retirement years whose days are filled with doctor appointments. No, thank you. While I appreciate the technical and medical advances, I'd rather prevent the need for their personal implementation of these discoveries. An old adage says, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure," and I've found it to be very true with immune boosting.

Earlier I mentioned my desire to see my kids grow, but furthermore, I want to enjoy every step of the way . At the point I was, I wasn't even enjoying anything except sleep. I wanted to improve my life as well as prepare for a fulfilling lifestyle. I want to be able to chase my grandkids in twenty years, read to them, take them to Disney. All the stuff I want to do with my children now, I'd like to do again with my kids' children.

Okay, okay. I do not wish to get into a debate about the origin of life. However, I will say, I cannot comprehend a tornado ravishing a junk yard and producing a Mercedes-Benz in perfect working order. Nor can I imagine the Mercedes-Benz designers being pleased to see owners fill the gas tanks with sand, water, or anything other than for what it was designed. I am sure most people would agree, you would not be valuing - or honoring - the craftsmanship of any vehicle if you junked it, never checked the oil, etc. The human body is the finest machine ever designed. As technology advances, so do the realizations of just how complex and purposed is the design of life. Impeccable craftsmanship -- I mean, the simplest life form requires a minimum of 250 proteins.

Whether you believe in Yahweh or the Spaghetti dude, bottom line is, life is a gift. Taking care of your body shows appreciation for the gift of life, period. And who doesn't appreciate a heartfelt "thank you" when doling the gifts? Actions speak louder than words.

Perhaps this hub has inspired you to delve into the world of immune boosting. Where do you start? I will soon post a hub with Top Five Things to STOP Doing, and Top Five Things to START doing. I hope you come back to read those. I don't want to leave you "hanging", though. So I have included some links to helpful sites and hubs.