At least I'll die happy...

     That's what an acquaintance said to me during a discussion of the foods we eat and which are bad or good for us. We happened to be taking about a certain hugely popular coffee company at the time. I know how much people (myself included) are absolutely in love with their drinks, even though we KNOW how bad they are for our bodies. I have been mulling that phrase over and over in my head for months now, and I wish I could go back to that discussion and offer some insight into "dying happy".

     Here's the thing, when it comes to any of a number of diseases (cancer chief among them and the one which I have any modicum of experience with) Death does not come to the sufferer in a happy way. Sure, imbibing those sugary, caffeinated drinks now can give one a sense of euphoria I suppose, but it is short lived. When done so over a period of time does that momentary sense of satisfaction or happiness really equal the years one's life would be shortened? So, you have subtracted from the number of years you'll be alive, now think about your manner of death. I have been in cancer wards, I have seen cancer patients of all types, many with innumerable additional ailments, many who died as a result of their diseases. I can assure you they did not die happy. 

     When it comes to the foods we eat,  I have feasted upon the worst of the worst and been completely and wholly content in doing so, not caring or even considering what the consequences might be down the road. Then came a type of cancer for which not one doctor has even offered a likely cause, one for which the only POTENTIAL cure, if it didn't kill me (and it damn near did), was a heavy dose of chemotherapy drugs and then rebuilding my bone marrow with that of a complete stranger. I assure you, THAT got me thinking about the food I ate like a 2x4 to the face!

     I know what you're thinking, "Here comes another food activist rant..." but I'm not going to go there. I just want for you to think about the foods you are putting into your body and what effects they might be having. You only get one body and only a select few get to replace parts that wear out or are damaged beyond repair due to abuse. I'm not going to spout off why GMOs and processed foods are bad for you. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that you can do your own research on those matters. But... just think about WHAT you are eating. We all know what foods and drinks are "healthy" and which are junk, much the same as we know that smoking is bad for us. So what would it take for you to quit sodas, fast food, processed frozen dinners, and $5 a cup fancy coffee? Would it take you getting cancer, diabetes, or heart disease? Would it take you sitting on the exam table in a doctor's office in a paper gown while the doctor tries to tell you in the politest terms possible that you only have a year to live?

     What if I told you that you will not, as many proclaim, die happy, but that you will die a slow, painful, horrible death? That even though you are the one "suffering" from the disease and it's your life nearing its end, all of your friends and family members will suffer for years to come if/when you die? Would eating better, smarter, healthier sound more appealing to you then? Would it be easy to change? No. But I can assure you it will be easier by far than things like bone marrow biopsies, chemotherapy, watching your hair fall out, and dying slowly. 

     We all make choices, we all prioritize things in our lives from the food we eat to the time we have to eat dinner. Choose wisely friends, your life depends on it...